Is Saudi Arabia ready to enter a confrontation with Russia?

Maybe instead of asking whether the Arab states are ready to pay for the safe zones and help safeguarding it, a better question is that what the Arabs could actually do in case that an escalation leads to a confrontation with Russia?!

کد خبر: ۶۷۰۳۹۷

تاریخ: ۰۴ اسفند ۱۳۹۵ - ۱۷:۲۷

Tabnak - As the outlines of Donald Trump’s Middle East policy become more and more clear, Washington’s Arab allies are finding themselves in a more favorable situation comparing to the former US President Barak Obama era, especially regarding the Syrian issue. It has appeared that Trump is serious in establishing "safe zones” in Syria and that is what Saudi Arabia and its Persian Gulf partners want the most.

In his latest public remarks Saturday night in Florida, Donald Trump once again talked about his aim to establish safe zones in Syria, noting that US Arab allies will pay for establishing such zones. "We’re going to have the [Persian] Gulf States pay for those safe zones”, Trump said in a gathering of his supporters. "They have nothing but money”.

Indeed, it’s not the first time Donald Trump is going to have the others pay for the plans he would like to realize. From early days of his electoral campaign, Trump has been suggesting that once becomes president, he will start building a border-wall to prevent the illegal Mexican immigrants come to the US and will have the Mexican government pay for it.

Although it has appeared that Mexico won’t pay for the border-wall and now the US administration is planning to finance it from the tax revenues, when it comes to the Middle East and especially Syria, things are completely different. In other words, in this case the American taxpayers have nothing to worry, because the Arab states of the Persian Gulf are more generous than to refuse Trump’s request!

Establishing safe zones in Syria, is what the Persian Gulf Arab states and Turkey have long insisted on, seeing it as way to enhance the Syrian rebels and accelerate the process of ousting President Bashar Assad. However, given the huge risks associated with such a move, until his last day in office Obama refused to do so. However, in at least four separate cases so far, Trump has shown that he is in favor of the idea.

Welcoming Trump’s position, Saudi Arabia not only declared its readiness to increase cooperation with the US in Syria, but also raised another option: sending ground forces to conduct joint military operations with the US. In an interview with German newspaper Zud Deutsche Zeitung, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir, suggested that some other members of the so-called "Islamic coalition against terrorism” – a loose coalition consisted of Saudi Arabia and its allies – are also ready to join and send troops to Syria.

It seems that Jubeir’s positions was delicately made to assure the White House about one of the most serious concerns relating to the safe zones, namely the huge military build-up needed to safeguard the zones. So, in fact Jubeir is telling the US "Don’t worry! You can absolutely count on us. Just move! Just get rid us of Bashar Assad!”

However, it would be an oversimplification if the White House thinks that it’s just about money and troops. In fact, the real challenge for the US would come next, after taking the first steps to establish the zones, because Syria is where a wide range of parties, from the Syrian army to the Russian air force are active and since the Syrian government is firmly against the idea of safe zones, any such move could be regarded as a hostile act, risking a confrontation not only with the Syrian troops, but also with its main supporter, Russia.

So, maybe instead of asking whether the Arab states are ready to pay for the safe zones and help safeguarding it, a better question is that what the Arabs could actually do in case that an escalation leads to a confrontation with Russia?!