Russia's Putin searches for allies in meeting with Iranian and Turkish leaders

During what is only his second trip abroad abroad since Russia invaded Ukraine on 24 February, Putin, who left for Tehran on Tuesday, is scheduled to hold talks with Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The talks are officially part of the "Astana Platform," a trilateral forum originally organised to resolve the crisis in Syria.

Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad will also participate. However, this meeting is largely overshadowed by the Ukraine war and the looming global food and energy crisis generated by the conflict.

Russia and Iran have formed an increasingly strong bond, as both have been targets of US sanctions.

Putin is facing western sanctions while continuing a costly military operation. Iran has been hit by over a decade of US punitive economic measures.

In recent weeks, Russian officials visited an airfield in central Iran at least twice to review Tehran's weapons-capable drones for possible use in Ukraine, the White House has claimed.

But perhaps most crucially, Tehran offers Putin a chance for a high-stakes meeting with Erdogan, who has sought to help broker talks on a peaceful settlement of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, as well as help negotiations to unblock Ukrainian grain for export through the Black Sea.

Bloody conflicts

Turkey, a NATO member, has found itself opposite Russia in bloody conflicts in Azerbaijan, Libya and Syria, but it has not imposed sanctions on the Kremlin.

It relies on the Russian market, as it is grappling with runaway inflation and a rapidly depreciating currency.

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The gathering has symbolic significance for Putin’s domestic audience as well, showing off Russia’s international clout, even as it grows increasingly isolated and plunges deeper into confrontation with the West.

The Tehran trip comes just days after US President Joe Biden visited Israel and Saudi Arabia, Iran’s primary rivals in the region.

From Jerusalem and Jeddah, Biden urged Israel and Arab countries to push back against Russian, Chinese and Iranian influence in the Middle East.

It was a tough sell. Israel maintains good relations with Putin - a necessity given Russian presence in Syria, Israel's northeastern neighbor and frequent target of its airstrikes.

Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have so far declined to pump more oil beyond a plan approved by their energy alliance with Moscow.

But all the parties could agree on drawing closer in order to counter Iran, which has rapidly advanced its nuclear program since former US President Donald Trump abandoned Tehran's atomic accord with world powers and reimposed crushing sanctions.

Talks to restore the deal have hit a deadlock. On his trip, Biden said he would be willing to use military force against Iran as a last resort.

Regional rivals

Backed into a corner by the West and its regional rivals, the Iranian government is ramping up uranium enrichment, cracking down on dissents and grabbing headlines with optimistic, hard-line stances intended to keep the Iranian currency, the Rial, from crashing.

Without sanctions relief in sight, its tactical partnership with Russia has become one of survival, even as Moscow appears to be undercutting Tehran in the black market oil trade.

“Iran is [the] center of dynamic diplomacy,” Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian wrote on Twitter, adding that the meetings will “develop economic cooperation, focus on security of the region via political solution... and ensure food security.”

Fadahossein Maleki, a member of the Iranian parliament's influential committee on national security and foreign policy, on Monday described Russia as Iran's “most strategic partner”.

Putin’s foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov called Iran “an important partner for Russia" in a briefing Monday, saying the countries shared “a desire to take their relations to a new level of strategic partnership.”

Grain blockade

Talks to lift a Russian blockade and get Ukraine’s grain back on global markets will also be on the agenda.

Last week, UN, Russian, Ukrainian and Turkish officials reached a tentative agreement on some aspects of a deal to ensure the export of 22 million tonnes of grain and other agricultural products trapped in Ukraine’s Black Sea ports by the conflict.

The meeting between Putin and Erdogan could help clear the remaining hurdles - a major step toward alleviating a food crisis that has sent prices of vital commodities like wheat and barley soaring.

(With AP)