How can Russia help end the war?

Listen to the article. The audio text is automated, generated by an automated system

The strategic dialogue between the Gulf Cooperation Council and Russia, held in Bahrain on October 18, was an opportunity to discuss the region’s crises collectively, after multiple secondary meetings between the GCC foreign ministers and their Russian counterpart since their last meeting in the Black Sea city of Sochi in September 2025.

This regular strategic dialogue between Russia and the Gulf Cooperation Council began in November 2011, and its aim was to strengthen relations between the two sides in all fields, political, economic, and cultural. However, political topics quickly dominated the dialogue, especially the Syrian crisis, regarding which the two sides had conflicting views, and Russia took a hard-line stance in supporting the Assad regime militarily despite the crimes it was committing against the Syrian people.

The demise of the Assad regime in December 2024 strengthened relations between the Gulf Cooperation Council and Russia, and trade exchange jumped to $24 billion in 2025, an increase of 60 percent in one year. This increase was accompanied by high-level visits between the leaders of the two sides and the signing of many economic agreements.

However, the war between the United States and Iran this year led to divergence of Russian and Gulf viewpoints once again, and that is why one of the goals of the Bahrain meeting was to bring viewpoints closer to this crisis. The Russian side views this war from the perspective of its confrontation with the West, which is why it underestimates the importance of Iran's role in expanding the scope of the war by attacking the Gulf states.

When draft Resolution 2817 was put forward in the Security Council, Russia abstained from voting, allowing the resolution to be issued on March 11, 2026. This was a good start for dealing with the crisis, as the resolution condemned attacks on civilian targets in the Gulf states and Jordan, and emphasized freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz. However, the Russian position changed after that when Moscow prevented the issuance of a subsequent draft resolution submitted by the Council states in April affirming the right to navigation in the Strait, and the Russian veto paralyzed the Security Council’s ability to take measures to ensure that things in Hormuz return to what they were before the start of the war on February 28.

The Russian position on the crisis has not changed much despite the severe economic repercussions on the countries of the region and the world from the closure of Hormuz, and the Houthi threat to the Bab al-Mandab Strait, although it denounced their attacks on civilian targets in the Kingdom.

During its meetings in Bahrain and Tehran, the Russian side once again put forward its proposal regarding Gulf security, with the aim of “building confidence between the countries bordering the Gulf through transparency in military matters and exchanging information related to the security of those countries, then expanding the scope of joint activities between them in a way that enhances confidence.” According to the Russian proposal, representatives of the Arab League, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, and the five permanent members of the Security Council could participate in these arrangements.

Since this proposal was put forward several decades ago, and despite repeated amendments to it, it has been unrealistic, especially the part related to transparency in military matters and the exchange of information, because such transparency can only be achieved after rebuilding trust between the parties, but now such a proposal has become far-fetched after trust has weakened between the two shores of the Gulf after the recent war. Rebuilding confidence today requires returning to the basics, the first of which is commitment to the purposes and objectives of international law, including the United Nations Charter and the Law of the Sea, to stop attacking neighboring countries, and to ensure freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz and Bab al-Mandab and its return to what it was before February 28.

The close relationship between Russia and Iran gives Moscow a unique opportunity to mediate a solution to the conflict, by adhering to international law that prohibits attacking civilians and civilian targets on the one hand, and prohibits obstructing freedom of navigation in international waterways, and separating these two matters from other matters related to the war that can be resolved through negotiations, such as the nuclear file, the missile program, interference in the internal affairs of states and support for armed groups.