U.S. - Russian Relations Are In The Deep Freeze

Pool photo by Carolyn Kaster

U.S. And Russia Can’t Agree On Whether They Agreed To Coordinate On ISIS -- Josh Rogin, Daily Beast

The secretary of state has been trying to thaw U.S.-Russian relations, but the Kremlin just won’t play ball. Now he says they agreed to work together on ISIS—and Russia is denying it.

Did the United States and Russia agree to share intelligence about ISIS? Secretary of State John Kerry insists they did. The Russian foreign minister insists just as strongly they didn’t. It’s just the latest indication that Moscow is not on board with Kerry’s efforts to thaw the U.S.-Russian relationship.

Last week in Paris, Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov had another of their private chats on a park bench after taking a stroll around the garden of the U.S. ambassador’s residence with no staffers present. In a solo press conference after the meeting, Kerry said Lavrov had agreed to increased counterterrorism coordination with Washington, especially on ISIS, a group both the United States and Russia are fighting in Iraq.

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My Comment: For reasons that I do not understand, the White House is now hoping that U.S. - Russian relations will improve. but as you can tell .... I  am not optimistic. U.S. involvement in Ukraine coupled with the White Hosue push for Russian sanctions has put U.S. - Russian relations in the deep freeze. There is no longer any trust .... and from Moscow's point of view .... they will only start to do business with the next administration. John Kerry can make all the trips that he wants .... but I know that nothing is going to come out of it. Moscow is now looking at 2016, and studying who may be the next U.S. President.