The West has fallen into a trap of its own making by exposing its own double standards over how it treated different countries depending on its self-interested political preferences, said Senator Alexei Pushkov.

“The unequivocal support of the United States and the West for Israel’s actions has dealt a powerful blow to Western foreign policy in the eyes of the Arab world and the entire Global South,” Pushkov wrote on Telegram.

Russia also sees the crisis as a chance for Moscow to try to grow its clout in the Middle East by casting itself as a potential peacemaker with links to all sides, said former Kremlin adviser Markov.

“We have very stable, businesslike relations with Israel, we have had friendly relations with Palestine for decades, our friends know this. And Russia, in my opinion, could also make its own contribution, its own contribution to the settlement process,” Putin told an Arab TV channel in October.

There are potential economic benefits too, said Markov, and the added bonus of drawing Western financial and military resources away from Ukraine.

“Russia benefits from an increase in the price of oil which will result from this war,” said Markov. “(And) Russia benefits from any conflict that the US and EU have to devote resources to because it reduces resources for the anti-Russian regime in Ukraine.”

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