Putin is everywhere

Vladimir Putin is having a terrific time. The Russian economy is still pretty dubious, but, with Donald Trump in all kinds of trouble for a a number of reasons, Putin can prance around the globe claiming to be in charge. He popped over to Syria to see his mate, Bashar Assad, and neatly declared victory, presumably victory for the Russian air force and Spetnaz special forces. He has also been having talks in Cairo with President El-Sissi. Putin probably thinks he is a powerful player in the Middle East, and, to some extent, he is. Trump has just ruined any chance of the US playing an influential role in the region with his declaration of Jerusalem as Israel's capital, so Putin can step in and throw a bit of Russian diplomacy around. Assuming he's going to win the pesidential election next year, Putin is going to be the Kremlin boss for another seven years, so there's no reason why he should not play an increasingly significant role in the Middle East and elsewhere if he chooses to do so. The US State Department and its beleaguered secretary, Rex Tillerson, must be seething. They have lost whatever influence they had in the Middle East with the Jerusalem decision. The Palestinians are not going to trust the Trump administration however conciliatory they try to be over the next few months, so the door is open to Putin. He's had his "victory" in Syria and he probably has the taste for more diplomatic breakthroughs. The victory in Syria of course was all about saving Assad's regime, he doesn't really care about anything else. Russian involvement in defeating Isis was minimal. Back in Moscow, Putin held his annual press conference which lasted four hours and most of it was boring. But then suddenly he showed sympathy for Trump, saying that all the fuss about alleged Russian collusion in the US election which he says is rubbish, has prevented his successes from being properly noticed. Bizarre. I wonder what Robert Mueller will think of Putin's sympathy for Trump.