Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov visited Bahrain and Saudi Arabia this week as part of efforts to consolidate relations with the region, despite the international outcry over the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The visit comes amid finding in a poll by YOUGOV that show that the Arab street is largely indifferent to the events in Ukraine.
Speaking during the visit of the Russian minister to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister, Prince Faisal bin Farkhan, reiterated his country's neutral position to the issue, saying that the Kingdom supports efforts aimed at reaching a political solution to end the Russia-Ukraine crisis and achieve security and stability.
During a meeting with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov in Riyadh on Tuesday, Prince Faisal said the Kingdom is ready to make the necessary efforts to contribute to such a solution.
He affirmed the Kingdom’s position on the Russia-Ukraine crisis "that is based on the foundations of international law". Lavrov also met with the Secretary-General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation Hussein Ibrahim Taha during his visit to Riyadh, Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported. Lavrov also visited Bahrain on Tuesday where he met with Bahraini Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al-Khalifa, Bahrain News Agency reported.
The visit coincided with the publication of a YOUGOV poll which examines attitudes on the “Arab Street” to the conflict in Ukraine. The findings offer illuminating insights on the catastrophe unfolding on Europe’s eastern flank that will reverberate far beyond the MENA region. They suggest apathy and disinterest in the Arab world to the current situation: 66 percent of respondents said they had no stance on the war, while those who did choose a side were almost evenly divided — 18 percent backed Ukraine and 16 percent Russia.
Faisal Abbas, the Editor in Chief of Arab News which commissioned the poll, in an article on 30 May, said that "most strikingly, perhaps, the findings lay bare the extent of the distrust of the West across all 14 of the countries covered in the survey. Almost a quarter of the 7,835 people surveyed (24 percent) pointed the finger of blame for the conflict squarely at NATO, while more than one in ten (13 percent) said US President Joe Biden was responsible. Only 16 percent blamed Russia."
Abbas says that "this can be attributed in part to Russia’s massive investment in its own news channels in Arabic, and to a massive online outreach effort. Even before the beginning of the so-called “special military operation” on Feb, 24, a flood of material across numerous social media platforms, in several languages including Arabic, made the case that Russia was responding to NATO expansionism and acting only in self-defense."
"But underpinning the widespread Arab skepticism on this issue is not so much the success of Russian propaganda, but rather the steady ebbing away of trust in the West over the past two decades."
source: commonspace.eu
photo: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Riyadh on 31 May 2022
