Kerry meets Putin amid Ukraine, Syria tensions
13 May 2015 5:47 AM IST
On his first trip to Russia since the Ukraine crisis began, Kerry held more than four hours of talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov at a hotel in the Black Sea resort of Sochi before seeing Putin at his presidential residence in the city. Putin is in Sochi meeting with Russian defense officials for a week.
The top US diplomat plans to test Putin’s willingness to make pro-Russia separatists in Ukraine comply with an increasingly fragile ceasefire agreement, according to US officials travelling with him.
Kerry will also seek to gauge the status of Russia’s support for embattled Syrian President Bashar Assad, whose forces have been losing ground to rebels, and press Moscow to support a political transition that could end that war, the officials said.
In addition, Kerry will make the case to Putin that Russia should not proceed with its planned transfer of an advanced air defense system to Iran.
Kerry’s trip comes at a time when relations between Washington and Moscow have plummeted to post-Cold War lows amid the disagreements over Ukraine and Syria.
In a sign of the considerable strains, the Kremlin would not confirm Kerry’s meeting with Putin until just an hour before he arrived in Sochi, a full day after US officials had announced it. And Russia’s Foreign Ministry had <g data-gr-id="26">previewed</g> the talks by blaming Washington for the breakdown in relations.
Putin’s spokesman welcomed Kerry’s decision to travel to Russia but with a point. “We have repeatedly stated at various levels and the president has said that Russia never initiated the freeze in relations and we are always open for displays of political will for a broader dialogue,” Dmitry Peskov told journalists in Sochi.
Potato diplomacy: Lavrov gives Kerry ice-breaking gift
After months of raging tensions over Ukraine, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov sought to break the ice on Tuesday by giving his US counterpart John Kerry two baskets full of potatoes and tomatoes.
Kerry was in the Black Sea resort of Sochi for high-stakes talks with Lavrov and Russian President Vladimir Putin, on his first visit to Russia in two years. Lavrov surprised his guest by presenting Kerry with a basket of ripe red tomatoes and another one full of potatoes, the Russian foreign ministry said.
“It’s sunny in Sochi today,” foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Facebook, an apparent reference not only to the blue skies over the city but also the upbeat mood at the talks.
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