US Signaling Willingness to Break Ice in Relations With Russia - Analyst

US State Secretary John Kerry will meet with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov on Tuesday in Sochi. That could be a signal that Washington is ready to normalize its relations with Moscow, an American analyst says.

It would be way too optimistic to think that Russia and the United States are starting a new period of “resetting” their relations. However, Washington has given Moscow a clear sign that it is ready to discuss ways to normalize relations and to resume cooperation, an observer for the Christian Science Monitor wrote.

The Ukrainian conflict buried the "reset" process which started during Barack Obama’s first presidential term. Nevertheless, now the White House is signaling its willingness to resume cooperation with Kremlin.

US State Secretary John Kerry will meet with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Sochi gives credence to this assumption. In addition, a meeting between Kerry and Russian President Vladimir Putin cannot be ruled out.

"It is very clear that what we have is Kerry flying to Sochi, not Lavrov flying to the US," the CSM cited Dmitri Simes, a noted Russia expert and president of the Center for the National Interest in Washington. "The initiative is from the US side."

Despite recent harsh criticism of Russia, Obama’s administration is interested in developing cooperation with Russia on a wide range of international issues, including the Syrian conflict, the North Korean nuclear problem, and the terrorist threat posed by ISIL, according to the article.

The Ukrainian crisis caused tensions and cooling in Russia-US relations. However, Russia still remains the United States' principal partner in the six-way talks over Iran’s nuclear program. Moscow is also continuing to implement its obligations under the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty. Additionally, Russian and the US face the common threat of radical Islamism.

According to American experts, Russia is also interested in cooperation with the US.

But that does not mean Putin will fall at Kerry’s feet, Simes claimed. The Russian leader will still want to demonstrate domestically that he can play hard to get when Russia’s interests are at stake.

Speaking on the possibility of a meeting between Putin and Kerry, the analyst said it would depend on the results of the talks between Kerry and Lavrov.