On February 28, the military attacks launched by Israel and the US against Iran drew the attention of the entire world to this conflict. One of the main reasons for this was the war spreading to the Gulf countries. Currently, Iran is striking US military bases in Arab countries.
The Russia-Ukraine war, ongoing since 2022, seems to have been forgotten amidst all these events.
Some international analysts even believe that the war between the US-Israel and Iran benefits Russian President Vladimir Putin the most. Because the US is now preoccupied and cannot provide adequate support to Ukraine. Additionally, sanctions against Russia have been eased.
In a statement to Modern.az, political scientist Elkhan Shahinoglu also stated that the US-Israel and Iran war serves the interests of Russian President Vladimir Putin to some extent:
“The war launched by the US and Israel against Iran, the tension in the Middle East, and the involvement of Gulf countries in the war have, of course, diverted attention from the Russia-Ukraine war to some extent. The tension in the Middle East, on the one hand, also serves the interests of Russian President Putin. Because attention has been diverted, and America has eased sanctions against Russia. Thus, Russia is easily selling oil that it could not sell to Europe to Asian countries. Also, oil prices have risen due to the war. This has increased Russia's revenues. However, if the US tames Iran, this will actually be a major blow to Putin. That is, even if attention is diverted to some extent, tension on the Russia-Ukraine front continues. The intensity of the war has not decreased. The Ukrainian army is carrying out counter-offensives. Ukraine continues to strike Russia's energy sources. Russia has even lost 7,000 servicemen within three days. So, the tension still remains, only attention has been diverted somewhat, and negotiations have moved to the background. But Ukraine has not suffered significant damage from this. Ukraine continues its resistance and does not reconcile with the occupation".
E. Shahinoglu also spoke about how the Russia-Ukraine war might end:
"Frankly, the end of the war is not yet in sight. The war will continue. Currently, neither Russia is advancing to expand its occupation and take full control of Donbas, nor is Ukraine able to liberate its territories. Both are, in fact, stuck in the front line. In such circumstances, negotiations will not be successful either. There needs to be a change of power in Russia, and they need to understand the reality. That is, they should understand that they have suffered significant losses and have problems in their economy. Thus, perhaps, they would be content with what they have. Because Ukraine agrees to Russia retaining what it has occupied so far. But Russia does not want to be content with this. Putin wants the entirety of Donbas. In such circumstances, there will, of course, be no outcome. The war in the Middle East will probably end in some form in a short time. But we cannot predict that the Russia-Ukraine war will end in a short time".
