Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Syrian President Bashar Assad in Damascus on Tuesday. Reports said the two leaders were briefed about military developments in different regions of Syria where a civilian war is ongoing since March 2011.
Official statements from respective representatives were consistent in saying that two infamous leaders discussed relations. Officials from both countries also made no mention of the United States drone strike that killed top Iranian general, Qassem Soleimani.
Still, political observers could not sit idly with Putin's visit to Syria taking place amid mounting tensions between Iran and the U.S. Relations between Russia and the US are at their worst since after the Cold War.
To make matters worse, Soleimani has been a significant figure in Syria's civil war. He played a crucial role in gathering up Iran-backed forces to support Assad with his goals in Damascus. Not to mention that there are about 600 US troops deployed in Syria which makes it a strategic retaliatory point of Iran.
Most recently, Iran struck US bases in Iraq with more than a dozen ballistic missiles as means of revenge against Soleimani's killing. President Donald Trump ordered the drone attack that killed Soleimani.
Russian troops are also stationed in Syria since 2015, the year when Putin expressed his resounding support of Assad's civil war to the frustration of the US.
The relations between Russia and the US have turned sour since 2014 when the US imposed sanctions on Moscow after its annexation of Crimea. The US was also critical of Putin's intervention in Syria even if it has its own troops fighting in Damascus.
US-Russia relations deteriorated further when the latter was accused of interfering in the 2016 US Elections, which placed Trump in power. Both countries have sanctions in place against each other.
Iran has always been Russia's strategic ally in the Middle East the way the US viewed Israel.
It goes without saying that Putin's visit to Syria highlights sensitive geopolitical tensions. Iran also views Lebanon, Yemen, Gaza Strip, Hezbollah, and Venezuela as staunched allies with which the US has other conflicts.
On the other side of the coin, the US has NATO and all 29 member-nations by its side. NATO-Russia relations are at its worst as well with their border conflicts. Other non-NATO members pledging support of the US include Afghanistan, Kuwait, and Pakistan, South Korea, Taiwan, Bahrain, Jordan, Egypt, and Australia.
