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| In Russia, John Kerry Pushes Forward on Syria Talks | |
| (about 7 hours later) | |
| MOSCOW — Secretary of State John Kerry pressed ahead on Tuesday with a push for a new round of talks on the Syrian peace process in meetings in the red-carpeted, chandeliered halls of the Kremlin that are sure to outrage critics of diplomatic engagement with Russia. | MOSCOW — Secretary of State John Kerry pressed ahead on Tuesday with a push for a new round of talks on the Syrian peace process in meetings in the red-carpeted, chandeliered halls of the Kremlin that are sure to outrage critics of diplomatic engagement with Russia. |
| In Moscow after an extended trip to Paris for climate talks, Mr. Kerry met first with the Russian foreign minister, Sergey V. Lavrov, and left directly to meet with President Vladimir V. Putin in the evening. The day of meetings was intended to smooth differences over a planned round of negotiations scheduled to take place in New York on Friday. | In Moscow after an extended trip to Paris for climate talks, Mr. Kerry met first with the Russian foreign minister, Sergey V. Lavrov, and left directly to meet with President Vladimir V. Putin in the evening. The day of meetings was intended to smooth differences over a planned round of negotiations scheduled to take place in New York on Friday. |
| “Foreign Minister Lavrov and I have agreed that together, the United States and Russia have an ability to be able to make a significant difference here,” Mr. Kerry said to the Russian leader before their talk. “So I very much look forward to our discussions now and appreciate the seriousness of your commitment of time and thought about these issues.” | “Foreign Minister Lavrov and I have agreed that together, the United States and Russia have an ability to be able to make a significant difference here,” Mr. Kerry said to the Russian leader before their talk. “So I very much look forward to our discussions now and appreciate the seriousness of your commitment of time and thought about these issues.” |
| Perhaps the major sticking point is deciding which groups should speak for the Syrian opposition. Before the visit, Mr. Kerry and Mr. Lavrov had agreed in a telephone call that the makeup of a Syrian opposition delegation to the New York talks should be acceptable to all parties, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement. | Perhaps the major sticking point is deciding which groups should speak for the Syrian opposition. Before the visit, Mr. Kerry and Mr. Lavrov had agreed in a telephone call that the makeup of a Syrian opposition delegation to the New York talks should be acceptable to all parties, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement. |
| The two countries should also agree on a list of groups they deem to be terrorist organizations fighting in Syria, the statement said. | The two countries should also agree on a list of groups they deem to be terrorist organizations fighting in Syria, the statement said. |
| However, a senior State Department official told journalists traveling with Mr. Kerry that gaps remained with Russia on setting the ground rules for the New York talks. It was unclear, for example, whether the talks might go ahead even if Russia, a backer of President Bashar al-Assad of Syria, rejects the makeup of the opposition delegation, the official said. | However, a senior State Department official told journalists traveling with Mr. Kerry that gaps remained with Russia on setting the ground rules for the New York talks. It was unclear, for example, whether the talks might go ahead even if Russia, a backer of President Bashar al-Assad of Syria, rejects the makeup of the opposition delegation, the official said. |
| Mr. Kerry has made finding a political resolution to Syria’s fierce and festering civil war a priority for defeating the Islamic State terrorist group, which has found a haven in Sunni Muslim regions of eastern Syria and western Iraq. | Mr. Kerry has made finding a political resolution to Syria’s fierce and festering civil war a priority for defeating the Islamic State terrorist group, which has found a haven in Sunni Muslim regions of eastern Syria and western Iraq. |
| Mr. Kerry and Victoria J. Nuland, the assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs, took part in the talks in Moscow on Tuesday. | Mr. Kerry and Victoria J. Nuland, the assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs, took part in the talks in Moscow on Tuesday. |
| The United States, Russia, the European Union and Middle Eastern countries had agreed in Vienna in November on a timeline of two years to hold new elections in Syria but left unsettled the main question of the fate of Mr. Assad. | The United States, Russia, the European Union and Middle Eastern countries had agreed in Vienna in November on a timeline of two years to hold new elections in Syria but left unsettled the main question of the fate of Mr. Assad. |
| The senior State Department official, who asked not to be identified discussing the behind-the-scenes diplomacy of the secretary’s trip, said the talks Tuesday would try to clarify what role Mr. Assad would have in a transition government, a pivotal sticking point in any negotiated settlement. | The senior State Department official, who asked not to be identified discussing the behind-the-scenes diplomacy of the secretary’s trip, said the talks Tuesday would try to clarify what role Mr. Assad would have in a transition government, a pivotal sticking point in any negotiated settlement. |
| Russia began airstrikes in Syria in September after a covert military buildup over the summer, in an operation to prop up Mr. Assad and break Russia’s two-year-old diplomatic isolation over the Ukraine crisis. | Russia began airstrikes in Syria in September after a covert military buildup over the summer, in an operation to prop up Mr. Assad and break Russia’s two-year-old diplomatic isolation over the Ukraine crisis. |
| While the airstrikes in Syria have not, for now, done much to strengthen Mr. Assad’s sphere of control or leverage in any eventual talks, they have rendered Russia an indispensable player in the Syrian crisis. | While the airstrikes in Syria have not, for now, done much to strengthen Mr. Assad’s sphere of control or leverage in any eventual talks, they have rendered Russia an indispensable player in the Syrian crisis. |
| Mr. Kerry’s meeting with Mr. Putin in the Kremlin on Tuesday will be the second such sit-down since a meeting in May in Sochi, Russia, when Mr. Kerry broke the ice that had frozen relations after the Ukraine crisis. Since then, President Obama has met face to face with Mr. Putin three times. | Mr. Kerry’s meeting with Mr. Putin in the Kremlin on Tuesday will be the second such sit-down since a meeting in May in Sochi, Russia, when Mr. Kerry broke the ice that had frozen relations after the Ukraine crisis. Since then, President Obama has met face to face with Mr. Putin three times. |
| “The Russian elite, the Kremlin, is very interested in restoring normal relations with Washington, even despite the obvious lack of personal chemistry between Obama and Putin,” Viktor I. Mizin, a political scientist at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations, said in a telephone interview. | “The Russian elite, the Kremlin, is very interested in restoring normal relations with Washington, even despite the obvious lack of personal chemistry between Obama and Putin,” Viktor I. Mizin, a political scientist at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations, said in a telephone interview. |
| The optics of the meetings Tuesday certainly seemed to advance this Russian goal. | The optics of the meetings Tuesday certainly seemed to advance this Russian goal. |
| The senior State Department official, however, said the United States would cut no substantial deals lifting sanctions against Russia over Ukraine for a solution in Syria. | The senior State Department official, however, said the United States would cut no substantial deals lifting sanctions against Russia over Ukraine for a solution in Syria. |
| “We have made absolutely clear,” the official told journalists before Mr. Kerry’s meetings in Moscow, “all the way through this at every level from the president on down, that we are not playing let’s make a deal here, trading Ukraine for Syria, that these are distinct issues with distinct paths forward.” | “We have made absolutely clear,” the official told journalists before Mr. Kerry’s meetings in Moscow, “all the way through this at every level from the president on down, that we are not playing let’s make a deal here, trading Ukraine for Syria, that these are distinct issues with distinct paths forward.” |