As Russia watches the current war in Iran play out, it is caught between its support of the Iranian regime and its desire to preserve bilateral relations with the United States and Israel, which attacked Iran a little more than a month ago.

Hewing to a calibrated policy of strategic equilibrium, Russian President Vladimir Putin has condemned the United States’ and Israel’s military campaign in Iran, a close ally, but has not taken drastic steps that could antagonize them.

Dmitry Peskov, Putin spokesman, articulated Russia’s position when he said, “This is not our war.” He thereby underscored Moscow’s view that diplomatic solidarity with Iran does not mean that Russia seeks direct involvement in the war.

Putin’s motives are clear.

With a wary eye on the Ukrainian war, which Russia ignited after invading Ukraine in 2022, Putin has been careful not to alienate US President Donald Trump, who is cool towards the Ukrainian cause and desires good relations with Russia.

To this end, Trump has established fairly cordial ties with Putin, who wants to preserve open channels of communication with the Trump administration, which has been trying in vain to end the Ukrainian war through diplomatic means.

At the same time, Putin hopes to keep Russian-Israeli relations on an even keel. Putin recognizes Israel as a power in the Middle East and respects its military strength and boldness. Furthermore, he is well aware of Russia’s cultural and linguistic connections with Israel by virtue of the fact that more than one million former Soviet citizens live in the Jewish state.

On a personal level, he and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seem to be on friendly terms, their bond having been formed prior to the collapse of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s Baathist regime in December 2024.

Prior to Assad’s fall, when Syria was a Russian client state and Iran’s political influence in Syria reached its zenith, Israel and Russia maintained normal relations despite an enormous mutual problem.

With Iran attempting to build a new front against Israel on the Syrian side of the Golan Heights, the Israeli Air Force regularly........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)