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U.S. and Russia Agree to Share More Intelligence on ISIS
MICHAEL R. GORDON OCT. 14, 2014
這是習的幕僚之前所說的 "新三國演義"。美、中、俄都在爭取"大戰略三角"中的關鍵的地位：其他兩國交惡但同時都對這國示好。目前中國是贏家。也有消息來源(a certain T. Wang)指出，習近平之前已在布局撮合美俄。而今美俄各因情勢變化(美國制裁俄國得不償失；俄國因受制裁而多少受傷)，也願意和解。中國“順水推舟”樂得做和事佬。
林中斌 2014年10月17日
Obama is finally turning around to taking seriously John Mearsheimer's suggestion in the March 2014 oped "Getting Ukraine Wrong" that the U.S. needs cooperation from Russia to deal with Syria, Iran, Afghanistan and eventually to counter China, the only genuine potential rival to the U.S." This is the new "Three Kingdoms". Each of the three big powers-- the U.S., Russia, and China-- is trying to occupy the pivotal position in the grand strategic triangle. That is the country wooed/courted simultaneously by the other two while the other two are at odds with each other. One source (a certain T. Wang) pointed out that Xi Jinping has for sometimes been trying to mediate between Obama and Putin. With neither the U.S. nor Russia benefiting from their rivalry (the U.S.-led sanction imposed on Russia has hurt both), the two are now willing to reconcile, while China skillfully earns the credit for being the peace-maker.
Chong-Pin Lin October 17, 2014
PARIS — Secretary of State John Kerry said on Tuesday that the United States and Russia had agreed to share more intelligence on the Islamic State, as he sought to lay the basis for improved cooperation with Moscow.
Just six months ago, Obama administration officials suggested that their goal was to isolate President Vladimir V. Putin following Russia’s decision to annex Crimea and provide military support to separatists in eastern Ukraine.
But Mr. Kerry made it clear that he would welcome expanded cooperation with Mr. Putin after a meeting here with Sergey V. Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister.
While nobody on the American side said the United States was undertaking another “reset” — the term the Obama administration used to describe its early attempt to improve ties with Russia — the tenor of Mr. Kerry’s comments suggested that the State Department was pursuing a new tack.
“It is no secret that the United States and Russia have had our differences over Ukraine,” Mr. Kerry told reporters. “We came together today in order to try to focus on those issues where we can find the capacity to be able to make a difference to other countries, to the world in general, and certainly to the relationship between Russia and the United States.”
Mr. Kerry began his discussions with Mr. Lavrov with a stroll in the manicured garden of the residence of the American ambassador here. Leaving their aides behind, the two diplomats talked alone on a wooden bench.
Mr. Lavrov’s spokeswoman captured the moment with two photographs that were posted on her Facebook page.
“How it was planned” read the caption beneath a photo of an empty conference table with nameplates for officials from the two nations.
“How it is done” read the caption of the two diplomats holding their tête-à-tête.
After their talk, Mr. Kerry and Mr. Lavrov made their way to the conference room where they were joined by their aides for the more formal discussion.
In a solo news conference after the meeting, Mr. Kerry outlined his diplomatic strategy, which appeared to be drawing in the Russians with proposals to cooperate on terrorism and global issues to try to lay a foundation for negotiations on tougher issues.
Noting that 500 or more Islamic State volunteers may have come from Russia, Mr. Kerry said that he had proposed that the two sides intensify intelligence sharing on the militant group and other terrorist threats, and that Mr. Lavrov had agreed.
Opening the door to cooperation in Iraq, Mr. Kerry said Mr. Lavrov had agreed to explore whether Russia could do more to support Iraq’s beleaguered government as it battles the Islamic State — including by providing weapons.
The bulk of the conversation, Mr. Kerry asserted, was on issues other than Ukraine, including how to fight the spread of Ebola; matters involving North Korea, Afghanistan, Syria, and Yemen; and efforts to negotiate an agreement to constrain Iran’s nuclear program, which Mr. Kerry insisted was not out of reach.
While White House officials had made it clear earlier this year that they were not cutting off all cooperation with Russia, they indicated that they were writing off the possibility of a constructive relationship with Mr. Putin — a possibility that Mr. Kerry on Tuesday seemed determined to keep open. Whether the two sides could ever reach a meeting of the minds on Ukraine, however, remained unclear.
Mr. Kerry said the sides backed the agreement reached in Minsk last month to defuse the conflict. But he added that some provisions were open to interpretation and noted the United States would assess Russia’s compliance with the accord.
Economic sanctions on Moscow, Mr. Kerry said, would not be lifted until the Kremlin withdrew all of its troops and heavy equipment from Ukraine, arranged for Ukraine to regain control over its border with Russia and pressed Ukrainian separatists to release hostages.
“The troops are pulling back,” said Mr. Kerry. “The heavy equipment still has to be pulled back. And the border is yet to be properly monitored and secured and put together.”
Mr. Kerry said that he had cautioned Mr. Lavrov that any attempt by Ukrainian separatists in Luhansk and Donetsk to hold a vote on independence would violate the agreement reached in Minsk and would not be accepted by the international community.
“The foreign minister did not agree with our judgment,” Mr. Kerry acknowledged.
In a separate news conference, Mr. Lavrov sidestepped the question of whether Russia would end its military involvement in Ukraine, which NATO has said has involved sending several thousand troops into Ukraine, including artillery units, and providing weapons to the separatists. He repeated the Kremlin’s position that Moscow was not involved militarily in the conflict.
Yet Mr. Lavrov embraced the notion that the United States and Russia were global powers with global responsibilities.
Robert Nurick, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, questioned whether efforts to broaden cooperation with Moscow could be successful without a resolution of the deep disagreements over Ukraine and the distrust it had engendered in Western capitals of Russian intentions in Central Europe and toward NATO.
“There are other issues on the agenda,” Mr. Nurick said. “But Ukraine will and should remain at the center. Without a satisfactory resolution, it is hard to see how we can have much improvement elsewhere.”
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