Trump Can’t Play Putin’s Game in Syria
The price of Russian cooperation in Syria cannot be U.S. capitulation on Crimea.
Beware that smile, Mr. President.
Photographer: Mikhail Klimentyev/AFP/Getty Images
In some alternate universe, it may make sense for the president of the United States to meet with his Russian counterpart to negotiate an end to the fighting in Syria. It would be a universe in which the American president weren’t constantly denigrating European allies, and the Russian president weren’t habitually lying about his country’s various predations.
Both sides are being vague about what’s on the agenda for next week’s summit in Helsinki between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin. But the prospect of greater U.S.-Russian cooperation on Syria is already a topic of discussion. As National Security Adviser John Bolton told CBS last week: “There are possibilities for doing a larger negotiation on helping to get Iranian forces out of Syria and back into Iran, which would be a significant step forward.” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, meanwhile, said a complete Iranian withdrawal from Syria was not realistic.