US-Russian Relationship Grows Cold Over Arms to Assad

U.S. accusations that Russia is supplying the Syrian regime with weapons to attack civilians have marked a significant escalation of tensions between the two countries. That tension was visible at a meeting between President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin before the start of the G-20 summit yesterday where the two leaders issued the blandest joint statement that talked only of a need for the violence in Syria to stop and for a political solution to be achieved. It was evident that Russia was angered by the accusations of arms shipments. But while dipomacy may suffer in the short term, there is a chance that Washington's new hard line could advance U.S. policy goals over the long term.

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