Geopolitical manoeuvring in the Middle East: Russia strategically walking the line

Russian President Putin’s strategic approach in the Israel-Hamas conflict is noteworthy, as he seeks to capitalise on the situation to critique and undermine the influence of the United States on the international level. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov had compared Israel’s war on Hamas in Gaza to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, seeking to draw comparisons between Israel’s fight against Hamas and Russia’s war on Ukraine, aiming to rationalise the Russian invasion.