Obama and Putin in high-stakes diplomatic wrangling over Syria . Strobe Talbott , president of the Brookings Institution and former deputy secretary of state in the Clinton administration , tweeted : `` If Kerry-Lavrov meeting exposes Russian proposal as sham , it will strengthen Obama 's hand with Congress , assuring what Putin hopes to stop . '' Putin gets upper hand by giving Obama way out of military strike for now . Syria chemical weapons issue now at UN , just where Russian leader wants it . Comment:
Obama and Putin in high-stakes diplomatic wrangling over Syria . Putin gets upper hand by giving Obama way out of military strike for now . Syria chemical weapons issue now at UN , just where Russian leader wants it . Comment: