TheLittleTwentieth – Renowned Papers Edition, AI Infused

Local sources from Russia: Meduza, Meduza.
UK coverage: The Telegraph.

Protests against Israel have spread across the Middle East, with Iranians chanting ‘death to England’ and calling for global unity against Israel. In Lebanon, clashes between protesters and security forces near the American embassy took place, with demonstrators condemning the US for supporting Israel. Hezbollah also held a rally in Beirut, calling for a ‘day of rage’ over a hospital strike. Jordan saw around 5,000 people protesting outside the Israeli embassy, with clashes resulting in several police injuries and property damage. The protests come amid ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, with thousands of Palestinians killed in retaliatory bombings.

The support of Western countries for Israel’s military actions in response to the attack by Hamas terrorists undermines the months-long efforts of the EU and the US to get developing countries to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. This is reported by Financial Times, citing Western officials and diplomats. Sources of the publication stated that the position of Western countries regarding the conflict in the Middle East undermines attempts to achieve consensus from the Global South on the world order based on respect for international law and the formation of an image of Russia as an ‘outcast country’ that violates this law.

Developing countries, as Financial Times writes, now accuse American and European officials, who condemned the Hamas attack and supported Israel’s retaliatory actions, of hypocrisy and inability to protect the interests of Palestinians. ‘We have definitely lost the battle in the Global South. All the work we have done with the Global South [regarding Ukraine] is lost. Forget about the rules, forget about the world order. They will never listen to us again,’ said a high-ranking diplomat from one of the G7 countries in a conversation with journalists.

A month before the Hamas attack on Israel, the G20 summit was held in Delhi, where the West called on developing countries to condemn the attacks by Russian military on civilians in Ukraine. Now, however, Eastern countries, especially Egypt and Jordan, are calling on Western officials to condemn the shelling and blockade of the Gaza Strip, using exactly the same arguments, according to sources of Financial Times. ‘If you call cutting off water, food, and electricity supplies to Ukraine a war crime, then you should say the same about the Gaza Strip,’ said an official from one of the Arab countries in a conversation with journalists.

The West believes that the war in the Middle East is beneficial for Russia. One of the high-ranking European officials, in a conversation with FT, called the Middle Eastern conflict ‘a gift from heaven for Russia.’ ‘Russia is using this crisis because now, addressing a billion residents of the Middle East or the Arab world, it can say, ‘Look, the world order built after World War II does not work for you,’ said a source of the publication.

Russia no longer plays the role of a ‘great power’ restraining its allies in the region, but sees the Middle Eastern conflict as an opportunity to divert attention from the war with Ukraine and deplete US resources. ‘Russia has a huge stake in continuing this conflict,’ said the Foreign Minister of one of the Western countries in a conversation with journalists.

On October 17-18, Vladimir Putin visited China. This was his second foreign trip after the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for the Russian President in March 2023 on suspicion of illegally deporting children from the occupied territories of Ukraine to Russia. On October 15, Putin attended the CIS summit in Bishkek. In Beijing, the Russian President participated in the ‘One Belt, One Road’ forum – an initiative by China to develop economic partnership and infrastructure in Eurasian countries. Putin delivered a speech at the forum, held talks with Xi Jinping, as well as with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

At the press conference following the visit, Putin commented on the supply of American ATACMS missiles to Ukraine, stating that it creates additional threats, but that Russia will be able to repel them. He also commented on the possibility of Russia’s defeat in the war, saying that if Russia has lost the war, then the US should take back the ATACMS and all other weapons and that Biden should come to Russia for a tea party. Putin also expressed his hope that the strike on the hospital in Gaza will serve as a signal to end the conflict as soon as possible.

The war in the Middle East has undermined the West’s efforts to get developing countries to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Russia, on the other hand, sees the conflict as an opportunity to divert attention from the war with Ukraine and deplete US resources. Vladimir Putin’s visit to China and his comments at the press conference following the visit reflect the ongoing tensions between Russia and the West, and the implications of the war in the Middle East for the global order.