Three months ago, Secretary of State John Kerry flew to the Black Sea resort town of Sochi for an unexpected meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. A central topic: the civil war in Syria.
The meeting was a key part of recent engagement between the U.S. and Moscow on the vexing question of how to end Syria’s brutal civil war, which has left nearly 250,000 dead, fueled the rise of the Islamic State terrorist group, and helped to radicalize would-be terrorists around the world.
Now Russia is at the center of a new flurry of Syria-focused diplomacy which has followed the Iran nuclear deal, and which might even involve a new round of direct talks between Washington and Tehran, Syria’s staunchest ally.
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