The American president will send Witkoff to Moscow on Wednesday, while, a little while ago, Netanyahu and Putin felt on the phone
Should we think that something starts to move on the diplomatic front in Ukraine and the Middle East? It is still early to say it. However, in the last few hours, there have been interesting signals. First of all, it was announced that the special American correspondent for the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, will go to Moscow on Wednesday: an imminent visit that Cremlin himself welcomed, calling it “important, substantial and useful”.
This is a very interesting news, especially in the light of the fact that, last week, the relationships between Washington and Moscow had made rather tied. Trump had ordered to move two nuclear submarines closer to Russia. In addition, the American president had set the Deadline within 8 August within which the Kremlin should accept an agreement on the Ukrainian crisis: otherwise, the White House had said he was ready to impose 100% duties to those countries which, like India and China, acquire Russian energy products.
But it’s not over here. A few hours ago, a phone call was held between Vladimir Putin and Benjamin Netanyahu. According to the Times of Israel, It was the second interview that the two leaders have had over the last few days. Recall that, in June, Trump and the Russian president had played on the side of the bank to arrive at a diplomatic mediation between Israel and Iran. Among other things, last month Axios He had reported that the head of the Kremlin had urged the Khomeinist regime to abandon the enrichment of uranium: exactly what was desired by Washington. Not only that. The same Witkoff has long been on the front line, on the mandate of the current US administration, in the negotiations between the Jewish state and Hamas, to try to conclude an agreement on the hostages and on the ceasefire in Gaza. In light of the phone call between the Tsar and the Israeli Premier, the imminent visit to Moscow of Witkoff could take an even deeper meaning.
Moreover, it is not a mystery that Trump consider the Middle Eastern and Ukrainian crisis connected. Beyond the thorny question of Iranian nuclear power, other dossiers also appear. One is the one concerning Syria: a country where Moscow, after the fall of Bashar al Assad last year, has significantly lost influence. Another dossier is then that of the reconstruction of Gaza: this question, which intersects with the attempt to relaunch the Abraham agreements and to whom they look at not only Israelis and Saudis with interest, but also American and Russian. And precisely on this interest, as well as on the military threat and secondary duties, Washington could leverage to obtain a softening of Moscow on the Ukrainian front.
ATTENTION: it is still early to understand if we are on the eve of a significant turning point both for Ukraine and for the Middle East. However, Witkoff’s journey to Moscow and the call between Netanyahu and Putin could indicate that the White House is trying a unitary road to solve both crises.
