Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., speaking to Al-Monitor on Feb. 14 before he embarked on a congressional delegation to the Middle East, said while there is cautious optimism about current US efforts to advance a diplomatic resolution with Iran and an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement, US Syria policy is not going well. And Russia is partly to blame, he said.
"I think Secretary [of State John] Kerry is pretty candid about it," Kaine told Al-Monitor in a telephone interview, before traveling with Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, to Israel, the Palestinian Authority and Egypt. "Discussions, with all appropriate skepticism about Iran and [an] Israel Palestinian [peace agreement] — while elusive so far — those discussions are going well. Results will prove later if we can get there. But the Syrian situation is not going well. He [Kerry] has been pretty candid about that. One of the main reasons is Russia continues to be an apologist for unacceptable behavior" by the Syrian regime.
