Kerry holds `frank` talks with Putin in bid to improve ties

AFP, Sochi (Russia) :Russian President Vladimir Putin and US Secretary of State John Kerry held four hours of rare face-to-face talks on Tuesday as the two nations sought ways to cooperate after a sharp deterioration in relations.The highest level US visit to Russia since the Ukraine crisis erupted in late 2013 did not result in any major agreements, but Kerry’s trip in itself and a marked change in tone were seen as signs of the countries’ willingness to improve ties.”Today’s meetings allowed us to better understand each other,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told reporters after talks on Ukraine, Syria and Iran, among other issues, in the Black Sea resort town of Sochi.A post on Kerry’s Twitter account called the meeting with Putin “frank” and “productive”.”I express President Obama’s gratitude for Russia’s willingness to engage in this discussion at a time when the exchange of views could not be more important,” Kerry said after his meeting with Putin and another four hours of talks with Lavrov.”There is no substitute for talking directly to key decision-makers, particularly during a period that is as complex and fast-moving as this is.”The two top diplomats said Moscow and Washington should continue dialogue to try to resolve their differences.Ties between Moscow and Washington were shredded when Russia seized the southern Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea in early 2014 and allegedly buttressed separatists in eastern Ukraine.Kerry visited Sochi after Obama snubbed Russia’s huge military parade to commemorate Soviet victory over Nazi Germany last week, in what was seen as punishment over Russia’s meddling in Ukraine.Earlier in the day, Kerry and Lavrov laid wreaths at a World War II memorial to pay tribute to the Soviet dead.On the balmy shores of the Black Sea, the top US diplomat’s Russian hosts also treated Kerry to locally made sparkling wine, according to Putin’s aides, while Lavrov gave his counterpart two baskets of potatoes and tomatoes.Potatoes as presents have become a running joke between Kerry and Lavrov, with the US diplomat presenting his Russian counterpart with two large Idaho potatoes when the two met for talks on Syria in Paris in January 2014.