Series of geopolitical defeats for Putin - From Armenia to Syria

After the fall of Bashar al-Assad, it is not known whether Russia will retain control of military bases in Syria, which an anti-Vladimir Putin lobbyist has described as another geopolitical defeat that "humiliates" the Russian president.

Moscow has spent considerable financial and political capital to keep Assad in power during the Syrian Civil War, but the latest chapter, in which rebel groups led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham seized control of the Syrian capital, Damascus, has dealt a blow to its influence Russia's geopolitics.

"This is a moment of humiliation for Putin," said political activist Bill Browder and added that "he 'exhausted' wealth after Assad." The latter has now been humiliated and I think that, in this way, Putin has also been humiliated".

Read too Russia loses its main ally in the Middle East

Browder lobbied the US Congress to pass the Magnitsky Act to punish human rights abusers in Russia, named after his lawyer, Sergei Magnitsky, who died in a Russian prison after exposing corruption in Russia.

In addition to the loss of image, Putin also faces the loss of the Mediterranean port of Tartus and Khmeimim, as well as other strategic assets in Syria.

"Syria was absolutely vital to Russian naval assets operating in the Mediterranean," former US Vice Admiral Robert Murrett said. newsweek.

To damage relations with Israel, Putin supported Iran, which has aided the war in Ukraine.

But Israeli bombing has weakened Tehran and its allies in the Axis of Resistance - Lebanon's Hezbollah. The Kremlin will fight to maintain influence in Syria, but losing there is another blow to Putin.

"The thing that's absolutely key here is the fact that Syria borders so many other states that are important to Russian relations — not just Iraq, but also Lebanon, Israel, Jordan, Turkey and others," added Murrett, deputy director of Institute of Security Policy and Law at Syracuse University.

Armenia

Describing Putin's inability to help Assad the way he did in 2016, when Russia's bombing of Aleppo kept him in power, Browder placed the event in Syria within the context of Russia's influence in other areas closer to the borders. her.

"He's just out of combat power, and it wasn't just Syria," Browder said, adding that "he also abandoned Armenia, where he had a military presence, and it fell into the hands of Azerbaijan."

Read too The Russian army withdraws from the Nagorno-Karabakh region

Armenia's economy is closely tied to Russia's, but its prime minister, Nikol Pashinyan, said Yerevan would not renew relations with the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), the Moscow-led grouping considered an alternative to NATO. s.

Armenia was angered by Moscow's inaction when Azerbaijan carried out an operation in the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh, which had an ethnic Armenian majority population but was recognized internationally as controlled by Baku.

Romania, Moldova, Georgia, Abkhazia

Browder also said that Putin is having problems with countries in Moscow's sphere that are not tied to military resources.

"He lost in Moldova," Browder told Times Radio, and "it seems things didn't go as planned in Romania."

Read too The Constitutional Court cancels the presidential elections in Romania after accusations of Russian interference

Moldova's pro-EU president, Maia Sandu, won in an election campaign she said included "unprecedented" interference from Moscow.

Russia has denied allegations of meddling in the election process there, as well as in Romania, where the Constitutional Court invalidated the first round won by far-right pro-Putin candidate Calin Georgescu.

"Then there's the big question about Georgia, and then the last question, of course, is Ukraine," Browder added.

Georgia has been rocked by protests after the ruling Georgian Dream party said it would suspend EU membership talks until 2028, sparking anger among many in the South Caucasus country.

"The disorder in Georgia creates chaos in the country, which at first glance might seem like something that works to Putin's advantage," Michael Butler, a professor of political science at Clark University in Worcester (MA), told Newsweek.

"However, I would draw attention to whether this is the correct interpretation of the situation. "These massive street demonstrations reflect a huge public opposition to the Georgian Dream party, which is deeply connected to Russia politically and economically," he added.

Read too The pro-Russian Georgian government suspends negotiations with the EU, protests erupt in Tbilisi

"The popular resistance that we are seeing in Georgia represents a challenge to these ties, which, from a strategic point of view, Putin wants to maintain and even expand, as a way to influence within Georgia," he said.

In Georgia's breakaway region of Abkhazia, protests prompted authorities to withdraw a bill that would have increased Russia's presence.

Aslan Bzhania submitted his resignation as leader of Abkhazia before new elections.

Otherwise, the International Crisis Group said the protests did not mark a move against Moscow and were aimed at Bzhania, but the bill and the protests "point to the potential for further unrest" that would bring a "real risk of more violence and insecurity." ". /Telegraph/