Today, the US Secretary of State John Kerry will pay his second visit to Moscow in three months.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said today that a meeting of the Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Russian President Vladimir Putin and the US Secretary of State John Kerry will be held "later in the day".
It is expected that Washington will offer Russia new initiatives to fight terrorists in Syria.
In particular, Kerry could propose Moscow to exchange information on the locations of the Jabhat al-Nusra (Nusra Front) terrorist group and to synchronize their operations against the Daesh jihadists.
A member of the European Research Centre of the International Relations Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Vladimir Olenchenko, speaking with a correspondent of Vestnik Kavkaza, said that one can find many explanations of the second in three months Kerry's visit to Moscow. "The main one is that Kerry is a man who looks for positive moments in solving international issues. He seeks to find out what Russia's position on a particular issue is. It is well known that one of the main themes is Syria. As far as I know, Recep Tayyip Erdogan seeks to establish a dialogue with Bashar al-Assad. And I think that the attitude of the United States is ambiguous: on the one hand, it doesn't want to stand aside and, on the other hand, it wants to participate in the process," the expert said.
"Other topic is Ukraine. The West took a strange position - it puts us conditions for implementation of the Minsk agreements. But there is one thing: the Minsk agreements involve obligations of the parties to resolve the situation in eastern Ukraine. But they don't say that the West has an authority or prerogative to control it. And sensible politicians understand this and prefer to engage in a direct dialogue," Vladimir Olenchenko summed up.
"Kerry is a political solution to the problem. And here it's the Russian side, which persistently seeks that the United States should outline its position on the Syrian opposition more clearly. I think Kerry is coming here in order to find more common things in the political part. There is an agreement between the Russian Foreign Minister and Kerry to cooperate and seek to resolve the issue through peaceful means. And I think that Kerry can bring some new ideas in terms of strengthening of contacts in the political sphere," a member of the European Research Centre of the International Relations Institute of the Russian Academy of Science suggested.
With regard to the sanctions regime, it is believed that it was introduced due to the Ukrainian crisis, and thus some its details will be discussed, the expert believes. "If there is an initiative, then probably, it will be from the US. Our position is very clear and distinct: we didn't introduce sanctions, so we will not ask top lift them. The US policy is characterized by some attempts of a batch settlement, they can say that they will lift sanctions if we do something in return. In this situation, I just do not see what the Americans may offer, though, maybe they have some developments," Vladimir Olenchenko concluded.
A member of the Federation Council Committee for International Affairs, Igor Morozov, in turn, said that frequent visits of senior US politicians to the capital of Russia indicate that any global issue in the world politics can be solved only in Moscow. "These visits confirm the fact that the policy of isolation, backed by Barack Obama, failed. Kerry's visit says that today, Vladimir Putin is a world leader," he stressed.
The politician pointed out that, in particular, the Minsk agreements will be discussed during the visit of the US Secretary of State. "The fight against international terrorism in Syria will also be discussed. Russia's position on this issue is well known - the opposition, which is supported by the US, should move away from areas of Jabhat al-Nusra and Daesh combat operations," the member of the Federation Council Committee for International Affairs said.
He noted that the settlement of the Syrian and Ukrainian issues will affect the electoral position of Hillary Clinton. "Therefore, Kerry as the representative of the Democratic Party and Secretary of the Obama administration will try to do his best to ensure that the foreign policy of the Democrats will achive some results," Igor Morozov concluded.
