And Israel heard about its deed in passing.
Yesterday, Istanbul played host to an international conference on confidence-building measures with the participation of the leaders of 20 countries. Russia was represented by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. Kommersant special correspondent Andrei Kolesnikov reports that during the plenary session Putin dispelled the last hopes of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad that the final resolution of the UN Security Council, to be discussed today, would not be adopted.
I believe that before and during the conference, the leaders of the 20 countries and the journalists were more interested in what was happening some 300 meters away, near the palace at Golden Horn Bay, than in the debates at the session.
They saw the yacht Ecstasea that belongs to Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich. The yacht was rocking peacefully in the waters of the Golden Horn under a pelting rain that befell Istanbul (local school children got the most out of it - their classes were cancelled).
For some reason, the local and foreign journalists became obsessed with the yacht and couldn't think of anything else. What is it doing here? Does it carry oil barons with far-reaching intentions?
Where will it sail next? Will it go, as the British media wrote, to South Africa, to the World Cup in an effort to once again sidetrack the journalists covering this feast of sports?
The early, unscheduled news conference of the Russian and Turkish prime ministers intervened with these agonizing reflections.
It was supposed to start at 9:15 a.m., that is, before the plenary session of the conference but instead started at almost the same time. One can conclude that Recep Tayyip Erdogan attached what might be described as exaggerated importance to his meeting with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.
At first both parties signed two treaties - one on the safety of tourism in Russia and Turkey (judging by the recent media reports, ensuring safety in Turkey was more topical), and the other specified agreements on building a Russian nuclear power plant in Turkey.
Erdogan could have spoken about many things but he concentrated on the conflict with Israel over the Peace Flotilla. Nobody in Turkey thinks about anything else (except, of course, for Abramovich's yacht in Istanbul's Golden Horn).
"During my telephone conversations with Vladimir Putin I felt support from the Russian Federation," Erdogan said. "I'd like to thank Mr Putin very much for this. The only goal was to deliver humanitarian relief! Nothing can justify what happened! The voice of justice is rising! We discussed this topic with our dear friend Vladimir Putin. Once again, we are so grateful for your help!"
A little later a journalist from Bloomberg asked the Russian prime minister about the Blue Stream-2 project that would primarily provide Russian gas to Israel via Turkey.
Putin said this project is planned to supply additional gas to Turkey and to third countries, such as Syria and Lebanon...
"The problem is different," Putin said without much concern. "As we know, Israel has discovered gas in its own shelf. I wouldn't exploit the issue of human loss now..."
The Russian prime minister wanted to make it clear that the case with the flotilla had nothing to do with Russia's decision not to supply Israel with gas, all the more so since using Turkey for transit is unrealistic at this point.
It is possible to gain a lot from this selfless position, for instance, reach agreement on the laying of the South Stream pipeline on the Black Sea bottom in Turkish territorial waters.
Moreover, Israel has not conducted any talks with Gazprom on this issue (Gazprom Deputy CEO Alexander Medvedev told me yesterday that the two sides only had a preliminary consultation on this issue.) To sum up, Putin refused to provide Israel with what it was not planning to provide anyway, but it looked like sanctions against Israel after the Peace Flotilla story. This seemed to be the gist of his speech.
When asked whether the agreement signed by Turkey and Azerbaijan on gas supplies from the Shah Deniz-2 deposit will affect Russian gas supplies to Turkey, Erdogan said that Azerbaijan "already supplies Turkey with gas but that the volume is low."
"We have a huge demand for gas and it keeps growing," he encouraged.
Putin did not evince any concern about this question.
"The scale of gas supplies from the Shah Deniz-2 deposit is incomparable with Russian gas exports. We are supplying gas [to Turkey] via Ukraine and the Blue Stream. Moreover, we are compensating for Iran's seasonal supply lulls."
Putin did not miss a chance to once again express his opinion about Nabucco:
"Let this project go forward, but if someone calculates the economics of the project (implying that nobody has yet done this - A.K.) they will see that the volume of Azerbaijan gas WILL NOT fill the Nabucco pipeline!"
Turkish journalists were interested to know what Russia is going to do to help Turkey in its conflict with Israel.
"We have immediately expressed not only our concern but also condemnation, all the more so since it happened in neutral waters" Putin said. "This leads to other questions. We have discussed this subject in detail, indeed."
Finally, the Russian prime minister expressed his opinion on Iran.
At that moment President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was preparing to speak at a news conference. The live broadcast of which was cancelled when the Azerbaijani president started talking about the issue of Nagorny Karabakh.
"The Iranian president is here," Putin continued, "we'll meet during the conference and talk... if he deems it necessary."
Apparently, Putin did not deem it necessary. Russia has formulated its position on Iran. It is ready for sanctions against Tehran but with substantial reservations that can disavow its position. Putin set forth the reservations there and then:
"International resolutions should not be excessive. They should not put the Iranian people into an awkward position. Iran has the right to a civilian nuclear programme... Moreover, the nuclear power plant in Bushehr must be commissioned in August," the prime minister said unexpectedly.
He could have abstained from saying this and everyone would have been more relaxed. But if he hadn't Western journalists would have had less reason to get excited.
They got even more excited when Ahmadinejad spoke at the conference. He had a final chance to persuade the members of the UN Security Council not to adopt a resolution on sanctions and he tried to use this chance. Ahmadinejad decided to concentrate on Russia because the US position was understandable and immune to change.
Ahmadinejad said that Iran will walk out of the talks on the nuclear programme if the UN Security Council approved the resolution (the proposed sanctions do not concern the construction of the NPP in Bushehr). He urged Putin to exercise extreme caution and told Russia to do all it can to prevent itself from turning into Iran's enemy. This was obvious blackmail and even an ultimatum.
Needless to say, once this was said there was little chance that the Russian delegation would accept it.
In the end the Iranian president could not help spewing his ritual rhetoric against the United States, just as Putin could not resist commenting on Nabucco.
Ahmadinejad suggested that US President Barack Obama, who is Iran's enemy by definition, change his policy before it is too late because "only in this way can the US administration save itself from complete political defeat that will only hurt Obama."
Putin spoke after this. Fulfilling his promise at the news conference with Erdogan, Putin replied to Ahmadinejad. He told him he must learn to communicate better with the international community.
Apparently, having understood what the vote in the UN Security Council will bring, Ahmadinejad did not wait for the second part of the session. He did not even attend the common dinner and flew back to Iran, a country that understands him.