Vladimir Putin’s plan to profit from the Israel-Hamas war
The past 48 hours have seen a burst of diplomacy by Russia regarding the Middle East crisis. On October 16th Vladimir Putin spoke to Binyamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, and the leaders of Egypt, Iran, Syria and the Palestinian Authority. Mr Putin expressed his condolences for the murdered Israelis, but failed to denounce Hamas’s attacks. Russia’s autocrat also called for a ceasefire, and blamed the crisis on America.
