July 25, 2022: -Russian President Vladimir Putin wanted to indicate that Moscow is always critical of the Middle East by visiting Iran. Still, the trip offers “a bit of desperation,” according to John Drennan of the U.S. Institute of Peace.

The goal stood to discuss with Iran, and Turkey’s leaders around the peace process in Syria, said Drennan, a senior program officer at the USIP’s Center for Russia and Europe.

Putin met with Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi and supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, according to notices on the Kremlin’s website published on Tuesday.

“We are strengthening our cooperation on international security and making a tangible assistance to settling the Syrian conflict,” Putin said.

I think the Russians would spin the meeting to demonstrate that they’re not isolated; they’re still a significant player in the Middle East.

Putin also met with Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Iran.

“I think the Russians would spin the meeting as a demonstration that they’re not isolated; they’re still a major player in the Middle East,” he told CNBC on Wednesday.

“But I do think, to National Security Council spokesman John Kirby’s point, it does show a bit of desperation that the Russians are having to go to the Iranians for military support,” he added.

Earlier, Kirby told reporters at the White House that the trip “shows the degree to which Mr. Putin and Russia are increasingly isolated.” “Now they have to turn to Iran for help,” he said.