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2023-02-23 Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
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Why the Islamic world refrains from sanctions against Russia
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Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
by Kirill Semenov
[REGNUM] The United States and its allies continue to put pressure on the countries of the Islamic world and, above all, the states of the Middle East and North Africa so that they join the anti-Russian sanctions and take steps to politically isolate Moscow.
In the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), and in the Islamic world as a whole, they closely followed the message of Russian President Vladimir Putin to the Federal Assembly. Leading mass media in the region collected expert opinions and forecasts in advance regarding the future speech of the head of the Russian state.
As Saad Khalaf, a candidate of historical sciences, an Egyptian journalist and an expert on Arab-Russian issues, told REGNUM, most of the theses from the speech of the Russian president were positively received in Arab expert circles:
“The Arab public is sympathetic to Russian positions, including those voiced during Putin's address. As you know, the East respects the strong, so if Russia continues to be strong and achieve its goals, as it claims, this will positively affect its authority in the Middle East.
Of course, there are certain problems that relate to the course of the military operation, but even here there are different points of view among the Arabs. But in any case, the Russian economy remains strong, and this is not only confirmed by the statements of the Russian president, but also by the reports of influential international structures, including the IMF," the analyst said.
According to Khalaf, the Russian president's statements regarding the suspension of Russia's participation in the New START also attracted attention in the Arab world. It is hoped in the Middle East that such steps will not lead to an increase in the threat of a nuclear conflict.
According to experts from the government circles of the MENA region, which is mostly supported by the local press, the United States and NATO, through the hands of the Kiev regime, are waging a proxy war against Russia
These assessments and the statements of the Russian side are in complete agreement. And the fact that Russia is not going to retreat and change its approaches, despite the buildup of military assistance to Ukraine, also has a positive effect on the country's image in the Middle East.
THE ISLAMIC WORLD IS TRUE TO ITS POSITION
The growth of military supplies from the United States and NATO countries against the backdrop of Kiev's lack of success will have a positive (from the point of view of Russian interests) impact on the Muslim street, and through it on the leadership of Muslim states.
The negative impression for Moscow that Russia is not capable of coping with Ukraine has gradually been reversed: it is the entire collective West that is not capable of coping with Russia.
This change of mood is the result of an active anti-Russian information campaign by Western countries themselves. In the Middle East, it is perceived as the direct participation of the US and NATO in the war against Russia.
The economic factor still forces the Islamic world to look at Russia as a promising partner, and not a weakening player. The measures taken by Moscow do not allow anti-Russian sanctions to undermine the Russian economy and are highly appreciated by the MENA states.
Among them there is no disappointment in the possibilities of Russia and its potential. Hence the continued interest not only in political, but also in economic ties with Moscow and the refusal to join the anti-Russian sanctions. And this position of the countries of the region has not undergone any revision during the year of the NWO.
Ukraine in the current conflict is part of a broad Western bloc led by the US and NATO and is waging war by proxy. At the same time, for a large part of the "Muslim street" Washington and Brussels are trying to fight not only with Russia, but also pose an existential threat to the Muslim world.
The West seeks to spread its values, and this pressure will only increase, including through sanctions and forceful instruments. The same "price ceilings" and other restrictive measures that are being tested in Russia today can be applied to Muslim countries tomorrow.
In Muslim states, they are aware that part of the long-term strategy of the West is the transformation of the Islamic world into a part of the global Western system, and the introduction of their own ideology is an instrument of this policy.
To do this, the West also uses loyal Muslim groups that are ready to pursue its interests (how can one not recall the American congresswoman Ilhan Omar , who outwardly has all the "attributes" of a Muslim woman, but it is she who initiates a bill in support of LGBT directed against Muslim Brunei).
Moscow does not try to impose its own values and principles and ideas alien to the Muslim peoples. Russia is a serious obstacle to the continuation of the expansionist policy of the West towards the Islamic world.
In the end, the withdrawal of the United States from Afghanistan, according to American experts themselves, became a necessary condition in order to concentrate forces against Russia. As long as much of the West's energy is directed towards Russia, the Islamic world is not under the pressure it could face.
The Muslim communities understand this and are far from unambiguously taking the side of the West in the current conflict, despite some disagreements with Russia, which, however, are not insoluble.
BUT THE PRESSURE GOES ON
The US and its allies continue to put pressure on the countries of the Islamic world (and primarily the MENA) so that they join the anti-Russian sanctions and take steps to politically isolate Moscow.
In early February, US Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Brian Nelson toured the Middle East, visiting the UAE, Oman and Turkey. However, there is practically no information about its results, which most likely indicates the absence of significant results of the trip.
Apparently, Washington is aware that attempts to put pressure on these countries can lead to an even worse deterioration of relations between them and the United States. Ankara or Abu Dhabi have long been immune to American threats and are ready to make sacrifices in order to demonstrate their own sovereignty.
Let us recall the sanctions against Turkey and Ankara’s forced withdrawal from the F-35 program due to the “S-400 case” or the US refusal to deliver the same F-35s to the UAE due to Abu Dhabi’s unwillingness to revise its contracts with Beijing in the field of information technologies.
Now the Americans are not focusing on trade and economic ties in principle, but only on certain types of dual-use goods supplied to Russia, and on the interaction of Ankara and Abu Dhabi with Moscow in those areas that allegedly can be used for military purposes.
Despite pressure from Washington and Brussels, the Gulf monarchies not only continue to pursue a policy favorable to Russia to diversify their economic and security ties, but appear to have made this trend irreversible.
Hence the harsh criticism of Washington in connection with the disagreement of Riyadh and Abu Dhabi to pursue a pricing policy within the framework of OPEC and OPEC + in the interests of the White House. The American side did not hesitate to baselessly accuse Saudi Arabia of direct collusion with Russia because of its refusal to increase oil production and even threatened to revise relations with the country's de facto ruler, Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman.
The UAE also turned out to be immune to signals from Washington and continued to develop trade and economic ties with Russia. The Emirates have turned into a kind of refuge for many Russian businessmen who find themselves under Western sanctions, who can conduct their foreign economic activity from there. And the volume of mutual trade between Russia and the UAE in 2022 exceeded $7.5 billion compared to $5.5 billion in 2021.
The participation of Russian specialists in possible joint projects with the UAE for the production of one or another high-tech product, such as weapons , can ensure the flow of the necessary technologies to Russia itself.
The Sultanate of Oman, a neighbor of the UAE, against the backdrop of the ongoing NWO, began to increase purchases of meat and grain in Russia, signing relevant agreements at the end of 2022.
Turkey continues to play a leading role as Russia's main partner in circumventing sanctions. Although there were negative moments here, for example, the refusal of Turkish banks from the Russian payment system Mir, but this did not affect the general favorable background for both countries of interaction.
The development of relations allowed Moscow and Ankara to reach a record trade turnover of $ 60-70 billion in 2022 (which is two to three times more than in previous years).
In the summer of 2022, the Italian edition of Corriere della sera, relying on the Italian National Institute of Statistics, reported that in the first 6 months of 2022, Italian exports to Turkey reached 1.4 billion euros. This is a record figure over the past 10 years.
If we correlate this fact with the accelerated depreciation of the Turkish currency and the extremely high level of inflation, then from an economic point of view, this phenomenon is difficult to explain. Nevertheless, a cross-sectional analysis of trade relations between the three countries may indicate Turkey's intermediary function in the supply of sanctioned goods to Russia.
And this applies not only to Italy, but also to a number of other states.
The growth in trade, along with Russian initiatives to create a gas hub, gives hope that regardless of who ends up in power in the 2023 elections, Turkey will remain interested in developing economic ties with Russia that seriously support the Turkish economy and will not join the anti-Russian sanctions .
If certain countries of the Islamic world were forced to succumb to the pressure of the West, they also tried to compensate for this with new steps and initiatives towards Russia, thereby maintaining a balance.
So, for example, Rabat went to meet Washington by supplying its T-72 tanks to Ukraine (albeit through intermediaries). But at the same time, Morocco is turning into an important element in circumventing anti-Russian sanctions. This concerns the export of Russian oil using "grey schemes" .
In the same way, one should not consider the voting of the states of the Islamic world on one or another anti-Russian resolution at the UN as a clear demonstration of support for Kyiv and the West's actions against Russia. For the MENA states, such votes are often a forced concession. It allows them to maintain a balance of interests between the West and Russia.
In particular, the Arab monarchies of the Gulf or, for example, Egypt use their support for anti-Russian resolutions as an argument for refusing to join unilateral sanctions against Russia. They indicate to the representatives of the West that they have already indicated their position, meeting their wishes.
But this is where their concessions end, and all requests on sanctions and other anti-Russian issues will continue to be rejected.
February 22, 2023
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