“Soviet leaders used to keep foreign emissaries waiting in order to test their strength and intentions, and on his first trip to the Kremlin as Secretary of State, Kerry was kept waiting three hours before President Putin received him. If Kerry was aware of these precedents, he didn’t show it. His tone at the press conference with Foreign Minister Lavrov (at which he thanked Putin for his ‘very generous welcome’) was elaborately conciliatory. In substance, too, the visit confirmed what President Obama’s April letter to Putin already conveyed: the US seeks to deepen its ties with Russia. The question is how far it is prepared to do so on Russia’s terms. The answer will depend not only on Russian policy, but on perception management. 

Since taking over from Hillary Clinton (who once called Russian policy in Syria ‘despicable’), Kerry has spoken with increasing fervour about US and Russian ‘common interests’ regarding the conflict. But sending arms shipments to the Assad regime are not a common interest, and resolving that issue was one objective of Kerry’s visit. No such resolution took place. What emerged instead was an agreement to convene a new conference on Syria (‘Geneva-II’) in language consistent with Russia’s view that the government of Syria be co-author of the country’s fate.”

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