Farewell in Sochi

This final meeting between the two presidents was dominated by a "sentimental mood", according to Sonja Zekri. "None of what the two presidents did in Sochi is irreversible. ... It was already pretty much clear that a couple of pleasant hours spent on the Black Sea and an exquisite meal wouldn't be enough to patch up the months of dispute over the US missile defence shield in Eastern Europe. ... America has mostly ignored Russia over the past few years. This was careless behaviour. Russia has allowed itself to become wrapped up in an aggressive rhetoric that drowns out even its justified concerns. That was risky. The signals from Sochi point to a certain amount of panic generated by this rhetoric, but they also show how difficult it has become to change course."

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