Russian President Vladimir Putin is going to offer his services as an intermediary in order to defuse tensions between the United States and Iran, former Defense Secretary William Cohen told CNBC on Tuesday.
"I believe that President Putin is going to try and step in and be the peacemaker here," said Cohen, a Republican former senator who served as defense secretary under former President Bill Clinton, adding that Putin will suggest, "Let me help solve this problem for you, [President] Donald" Trump.
Russia has an interest in preventing greater chaos in the region and will try to use the crisis as a way to get American troops out of Iraq, "something that the Iranians want and something that the Russians would be happy with, just as they were with Syria," Cohen said.
He added that a U.S withdrawal from Iraq would help Russia strengthen its presence in the strategic country.
The former defense secretary said that following Trump's retreat from Syria, Russia is now a "major player in Syria and throughout the region," especially with Moscow's massive intervention there. "They're going to come to the rescue at some point on Iran as well."
Cohen pointed out that Putin already spoke with French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday and plans to meet with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Saturday as part of his efforts to play a major role in mediating the crisis and pushing a solution that would be to his country's advantage.
Brian Freeman ✉
Brian Freeman, a Newsmax writer based in Israel, has more than three decades writing and editing about culture and politics for newspapers, online and television.
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