"Contacts with the American leadership, including contacts with the US Secretary of State, are very intensive. In spite of all the difficulties in our relationship, and a very serious discrepancy between the approaches to a number of significant issues, the dialogue not only continues, but is probably now more intense than in the periods when our relations were better than now," Russian Deputy foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told Interfax, summing up the visit of the US Secretary of State John Kerry to Moscow, who came to Russia for the third time in less than a year, which indicates that the US understands that there is no alternative to joint work with Russia, at least in several directions, each of which has a significant impact on the situation in the world. But there is no radical, fundamental, qualitative shift for the better in the relationship .
The head of the department of international organizations and global political processes of Moscow State University, Andrei Sidorov, said that "Kerry arrived because in the last three months we see a series of Middle Eastern leaders who, for some reason, were eager to visit Moscow and talk with President Putin, to conduct certain negotiations here. The American administration had to react to this. Any administration whose term is coming to an end is concerned with basically two problems. The first is how it will go down in history, the second is what it will leave to its successors."
However, Sidorov believes that there will be no positive agenda in Russian-American relations anytime soon: "The thing is that in order for it to be visible, the United States leadership must change their approach to the fight against terrorism. Right now they are fighting terrorism while resolving their own geopolitical tasks, rather than simply fighting terrorism. Indeed, recently Russia did a lot, especially in Syria. In my opinion, what amazes Westerners is the fact that Russia has come to do what the West did in its time. Dealt a blow, declared victory and left. The United States has played now by Russian rules. They remained in Afghanistan, and now the need to rebuild the country lies on their shoulders. They remained in Iraq, and this is also a concern for the Americans. The Russian aerospace forces did what was required of them. They were required to support the Assad regime so that we did not have another situation similar to Libya, and, secondly, to force all the Syrian parties to sit down at the negotiating table. Both tasks were fulfilled successfully."
From a military point of view, according to the expert, the Russian Aerospace forces in Syria are not necessary: ’’At the beginning of April there will be sandstorms, the presence of the aerospace forces is not particularly necessary there. Moreover, it is possible to operate from Russian territory. Moreover, as the Western military analysts are writing now, Russia took a very favorable position, which allows the aviation to carry the main bomb load, and to resolve these problems much more effectively than the West does."
According to the expert, in Moscow John Kerry failed to defend his point of view, neither on Syria (the main thing for the United States is to remove Assad), nor on Ukraine: "If Kerry managed to achieve the deportation or exchange of Nadejda Savhencko [convicted in Russia for involvement in the murder of Russian journalists of the RTR crew], it would be a completion of the Ukrainian issue for the administration. There is no solution to this issue at all, because the West's position regarding Crimea and the rebels in the south-east of Ukraine has not changed. Therefore, Kerry could not bring anything positive."
Andrei Sidorov believes it is important to understand how Russian-American relations play in the future for the next US administration: "If the election were held this Sunday, it is likely that Hillary Clinton would become the president. But until that time, until November, this situation can seriously change. She has already stated her position on Russia, and she certainly will correct them. But the fact that the relationship will be difficult is obvious, in my opinion. At least until 2018 there will be no major shift in US-Russian relations."
