TEHRAN - Prof. William O. Beeman is of the opinion that one of the reasons behind the visit of the U.S. secretary of state to Russia was to show that Washington is still willing to cooperate with Moscow “on matters such as the Iranian nuclear negotiations.”

“We don’t like your actions in the Ukraine, but please cooperate with us on Iran,” Beeman, the head of the anthropology department at the State University of Minnesota, told the Tehran Times.

John Kerry held more than four hours of talks on Tuesday with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, in what both sides depicted as a frank and cordial meeting aimed at reaching a common strategy to end the Syria war and defuse the Ukraine crisis.

Kerry and his Russian counterpart, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov — who met separately for more than four hours beforehand — described the entire day of discussions as the beginning of a fresh dialogue that might lead to broader cooperation on regional crises.

Beeman said, “Secretary Kerry is a firm believer in diplomacy. He went to Russia to give a dual message. The first was to have the opportunity to deliver a message of concern about Russia’s activities in the Ukraine. The other is to show that the United States is still in contact with Russia and willing to cooperate with it on matters such as the Iranian nuclear negotiations. Above all the United States is giving a delicate message: ‘We don’t like your actions in the Ukraine, but please cooperate with us on Iran’.”

He said, “The United States wants to tell Russia that it ‘chooses’ to involve Russia in international issues.”

According to the New York Times, talk of isolating Russia because of its intervention in Ukraine appeared to have been relegated to a past chapter of relations. Instead, the emphasis was finding new ways to collaborate, particularly on Syria, the Times said.

The Times said the tone of the meetings was largely devoid of the rancor and Cold War rhetoric that had increasingly framed relations between Russia and the United States over the past few years.

Marcus Papadopoulos, editor of Politics First Magazine, said Kerry’s trip to Sochi demonstrates that the U.S. is now aware that sanctions they imposed on Russia have failed and they are looking for a way out of the row.

Beeman who for years served as the professor of Eastern studies at the Brown University of Rhode Islands said, “The United States never wants to be in a position where it is thought to be compelled to do anything. The United States wants always to be thought to be in charge.”

On why the U.S. is insisting on expanding NATO Eastwards and brining Ukraine to the military bloc, he said, “The United States sees NATO as a vehicle for integrating Ukraine into the Euro-American sphere, just as other Eastern European nations have been.”

He added, “If Ukraine joins NATO the United States could legitimately send troops there to defend the government.”
 
The university professor said Russians will be angry if Ukraine is given membership in NATO. “They will be furious. It will not end well. Putin sees the expansion of NATO as a move to cut into Russia’s sphere of influence.”