World press on negotiations between Clinton and Putin on Syrian conflict (December 6, 2012)

" Clinton to Discuss Syrian Conflict With Russian Counterpart" is an article published today by the New York Times.
"This is not the first time that American and Russian consultations have spurred hopes of a possible breakthrough. In June, Mrs. Clinton, Mr. Lavrov and the United Nations’s envoy on the Syrian crisis at the time, former United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan, appeared to be close to an agreement that a transitional government should be established and that President Bashar al-Assad give up power. But that seeming understanding quickly broke down, with Americans officials complaining privately that the Russian side had pulled back from the deal. A major sticking point, it later emerged, was the American insistence that the United Nations Security Council authorize steps to pressure Mr. Assad if he refused to go along under Chapter 7 of the United Nations Charter, which could be used to authorize tougher economic sanctions and, in theory, the use of force."
Weighing possibilities for the change of Russia's stance on Syrian conflict, the author of the article states that "a senior Turkish official said that after President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey recently met in Istanbul that Moscow was “softening” its “political tone” and would look for ways of getting Mr. Assad to relinquish power.  On the other hand, it was possible that Mr. Lavrov had, in effect, merely agreed to meet so that Russia could maintain influence over the discussions on Syria and find out what exactly Mr. Brahimi was prepared to propose."
At the same time, the author stresses an important point that "even as there were hints that American and Russian stances might be converging, they differed sharply on human rights issues at the conference of the Organization for Security and Economic Cooperation in Europe, which began on Thursday."
The Washington Post highlighted the issue with an article "Clinton, Russian foreign minister to meet on Syria."
"Russia is extremely unlikely to back any military action against Syria, and U.S. officials say military action is not their goal. But stronger U.N. condemnation of Assad could help Russia persuade Assad that he cannot hold out. It was not clear, however, that Lavrov has any intention of pressuring Assad. Russian intervention is likely to come only if Russian President Vladimir Putin has concluded that the Syrian regime ultimately will be defeated. Putin wants guarantees that Russia will keep its naval base and preferential trade ties even in a post-Assad Syria; one way of maintaining that influence is for Moscow to join international efforts to push and plan for Assad’s departure."
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