Russia | Kerry to meet Putin amid Ukraine, Syria tensions 

U.S Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, left

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is in Russia to meet President Vladimir Putin with an eye on easing badly strained relations over conflicts in Ukraine and Syria.
Kerry laid a wreath at a World War II memorial in the Black Sea resort city yesterday before holding talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. Later, he was to meet Putin on the brief visit, his first to Russia since May 2013 and the advent of the Ukraine crisis.
The top U.S. diplomat plans to test Putin’s willingness to push pro-Russia separatists in Ukraine to comply with an increasingly fragile ceasefire agreement, according to U.S. officials traveling with him.
Kerry will also seek to gauge the status of Russia’s support for embattled Syrian President Bashar Assad, whose forces have been losing ground to rebels, and press Moscow to support a political transition that could end that war, the officials said.
In addition, Kerry will make the case to Putin that Russia should not proceed with its planned transfer of an advanced air defense system to Iran.
Kerry’s trip comes at a time when relations between Washington and Moscow have plummeted to post-Cold War lows amid the disagreements over Ukraine and Syria.
In a sign of the considerable strains, the Kremlin said Monday that the Putin meeting was not confirmed, although U.S. officials insisted it was. A senior State Department official brushed aside the non-confirmation of the meeting from the Russian side, saying tersely, “We usually don’t go to Sochi to see Foreign Minister Lavrov.”
Yesterday morning, the Kremlin finally confirmed that Putin would meet with Kerry.
Putin’s spokesman welcomed Kerry’s decision to travel to Russia. “We have repeatedly stated at various levels and the president has said that Russia never initiated the freeze in relations and we are always open for displays of political will for a broader dialogue,” Dmitry Peskov told journalists in Sochi.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry had previewed the talks by blaming Washington for the breakdown in relations.
Much hinges on violence decreasing in Ukraine, however. Matthew Lee, Diplomatic Writer, Sochi, AP

nemtsov report: 220 russian soldiers died in ukraine battles

A report released yesterday containing material compiled by slain Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov said at least 220 Russian soldiers died in two battles in eastern Ukraine within the past year.
The Russian Defense Ministry has denied that any of its soldiers have fought in Ukraine, saying that the Russians who have joined the armed separatists were volunteers.
The report claimed the soldiers were released from their duties in the army and listed as volunteers. The Defense Ministry promised to pay compensation if the soldiers were killed or wounded, but failed to live up to its commitments, the report said.
The 64-page report was compiled from witness reports in media accounts and information gathered by Nemtsov, including from relatives and other representatives of the dead soldiers. It was presented to the public by other opposition figures from the political party that Nemtsov co-chaired.
Nemtsov was shot dead on Feb. 27 in central Moscow. Five suspects, including a Chechen police officer, were arrested in the killing, but investigators haven’t named a suspected mastermind and the motive remains unclear.