U.S. abandons efforts to work with Russia on Syria

The US and Russia are increasingly diverging in their views on military cooperation in Syria. On Monday, Vladimir Putin’s statement on the suspension of the agreement on plutonium heated the diplomatic situation to the limit. In fact, the U.S.-Russia relations fell to a new post-Cold War low Monday. President Obama abandoned efforts to cooperate with Russia on ending the Syrian civil war and forming a common front against terrorists there, and President Putin suspended a landmark nuclear agreement.

The US notes that diplomatic arguments have no effect, Russia is going on the air strikes in Syria, Putin’s scuttling a deal the two countries signed in 2000 to dispose of their stocks of weapons-grade plutonium, was just a symbol of ending the co-operation with the US on Syria.

Kremlin took this opportunity to cite a series of what it called “unfriendly actions” toward Russia — from Ukraine-related and human rights sanctions to the deployment of NATO forces in the Baltics.

The United States, in its turn, abandons efforts to work with Russia on Syria.