Russia Shifts on Iran, But Why Remains Unclear

Has the US finally convinced Russia that reining in Iran is in both countries’ common interest? Or are indications today that Russia could support sanctions on the rogue nuclear program part of a quid-pro-quo arrangement that President Obama launched last week by shelving the Eastern European missile shield? Marc Ambinder says he isn’t sure, either, and is waiting to see how Moscow spins it.

After meeting with President Obama today, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev allowed that “in some cases sanctions are inevitable”—a stance a White House briefer says Obama has talked Medvedev around to after years in which “the United States has played Charlie Brown to Russia’s Sally,” Ambinder chides.
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