Russia-U.S. tensions thaw but little progress made during discussions

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Relations between the United States and Russia are at such a low point that one side giving potatoes to the other counts as good news these days.

So when Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov handed U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry a basket of oversized locally grown potatoes when the two men met in the Russian resort of Sochi on Tuesday, it was taken as a sign that the Kremlin is interested in returning relations to where they were 16 months ago, the last time the top diplomats met face-to-face.

Mr. Lavrov's curious gift was actually payback for a pair of Idaho potatoes Mr. Kerry had given the Russian Foreign Minister at that meeting in Paris in January, 2014. Back then, the Kremlin-backed Viktor Yanukovych hadn't yet been toppled by pro-Western crowds in Ukraine. Moscow hadn't yet sent troops to seize the Crimean Peninsula, and Canada, the U.S. and Europe hadn't yet hit back with economic sanctions that plunged relations between Russia and the West to post-Cold War lows.

"A new season is beginning in relations between the United States and Russia," was Tuesday's hopeful headline in Kommersant, a Moscow-based newspaper, before Mr. Kerry and Mr. Lavrov met for four hours of talks that moved from crisis to crisis, covering the conflicts in Ukraine, Syria, Yemen and Libya, as well as efforts to curtail Iran's nuclear program. Mr. Kerry then met with Russian President Vladimir Putin for another four hours.

The mood seemed collegial, but both Mr. Kerry and Mr. Lavrov made it clear the marathon talks had produced little substantive progress.

After a year of confronting the Kremlin, the White House now appears to be trying to improve relations with Russia in hopes of getting its co-operation on multiple fronts.

Syria and Iran, in particular, are files on which Washington needs Moscow's help to achieve its aims. Russia, meanwhile, is anxious for the West to understand its position toward Ukraine – a country it considers a vital strategic interest – and to drop economic sanctions.

"There is no substitute for talking directly to key decision-makers, particularly during a period that is a complex and fast moving as this is," Mr. Kerry said afterwards. It was clear that he considered the talks in themselves to be an accomplishment after more than a year of acrimony.

Mr. Kerry's trip came just three days after the U.S. led many Western countries in boycotting a massive military parade Mr. Putin hosted in Moscow to celebrate Victory Day, the Russian holiday marking the end of the Second World War in Europe. Mr. Kerry undid some of the snub by laying a wreath at a war memorial in Sochi, and Mr. Lavrov gave Mr. Kerry a Victory Day souvenir T-shirt.

"We have an understanding that we need to avoid steps which are able to inflict a long-term harm to bilateral relations between Russia and the United States," Mr. Lavrov said at a joint press conference.

Mr. Putin did not address media after the talks, but photographs circulated by the Russian Foreign Ministry showed the President smiling warmly as he welcomed Mr. Kerry.

Both Mr. Kerry and Mr. Lavrov suggested that peace in Ukraine – and thus relations between their two countries – hinged on implementation of the Minsk accord, a deal signed in February that was supposed to bring an end to the fighting in the eastern Ukrainian regions of Donetsk and Lugansk. But while Mr. Kerry emphasized the need for the pro-Russian rebels to cease attacks and withdraw heavy weapons, Mr. Lavrov said it was the Ukrainian government side that was not meeting its commitments.

Mr. Kerry repeated U.S. President Barack Obama's assertion that Western sanctions "can begin to be rolled back" as soon as it's clear all sides are implementing the Minsk deal. The U.S. and NATO accuse Russia of providing direct military support to the rebels in Donetsk and Lugansk, and NATO supreme commander Philip Breedlove warned earlier this month that he saw signs of a buildup by the pro-Russian forces "consistent with the possibility of an offensive."

In a statement released while Mr. Kerry was still in talks with Mr. Putin, Mr. Lavrov said that "attempts to apply sanctions pressure on us is a path to a deadlock. Russia will not be forced to forsake its national interests or its principal position on vital issues."

On Syria, both men spoke of the dangers posed by Islamic State militants, and the need to end the civil war that has created space for the jihadist group to grow in size and power. But their recipes remain dramatically at odds, with Mr. Kerry talking about a process to replace President Bashar al-Assad, and Mr. Lavrov giving no indication Moscow intends to desert its long-time ally.

The Kremlin seemed to enjoy the fact Mr. Kerry had come to Russia seeking Mr. Putin's help. "The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs loves to stress how these kind of meetings put Russia on par with the U.S.," said Sergey Utkin, head of the Centre for Situation Analysis at the Moscow-based Russian Academy of Sciences.

Mr. Utkin said the Kremlin came out looking stronger even if the negotiations produced little, since it allowed Moscow to look like it was standing up to Washington, just as it did during Cold War days.

Even as the two sides were giving diplomacy a chance in Sochi, their militaries were continuing the shadow-boxing that has become increasingly common over the past year.

Some 300 U.S. troops and 14 tanks arrived Tuesday in the former Soviet republic of Georgia for two-week-long drills, exercises on Russia's southern flank that were certain to irritate the Kremlin. Moscow answered by putting its airborne forces on alert.