Kerry goes to Sochi to soften relations
Today, US Secretary of State John Kerry will visit Russia for the first time in two years. He will meet in Sochi with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and, possibly, with President Vladimir Putin. This indicates the West's growing desire to find a new formula for relations with Moscow, despite fundamental differences over Ukraine, Kommersant reports.
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Experts interviewed by the publication draw attention to the fact that, despite the inertia of harsh rhetoric regarding Ukraine and the absence of Western leaders at the Victory Parade in Moscow, in recent days there has been some warming in Moscow’s relations not only with Washington, but also with the West as a whole. Kerry's visit comes two days after German Chancellor Angela Merkel visited Moscow, setting the tone for relations between the Russian Federation and the EU.
Director of the Franklin Roosevelt Foundation for the Study of the United States at Moscow State University, Yuri Rogulev, believes that the Obama administration has realized that pressure on Russia has its limits, and given the growing skepticism in Europe about the further policy of sanctions, it is trying to work back.
According to the President of the Institute for Strategic Assessments, Alexander Konovalov, the Kremlin is also interested in Kerry’s arrival. “The understanding that in relations between Russia and the West the pressure on each other has reached its limit is demonstrated by both sides,” he says. In addition, Moscow is interested in technologies that can only be obtained in the West.
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