No one has ever accused Secretary of State John Kerry of being the smartest man in the room (even when he is alone), but today Kerry made a doltish move that seems dumb even by his standards. Kerry arrived in Moscow for consultations with the Russian government and was scheduled to meet with Russian president Vladimir Putin. As is his custom, however, Putin kept Kerry waiting for more than three hours before showing up for the belated meeting. It is Putin's way of telling Kerry that he is inconsequential. Kerry did nothing to protest the wait.
Look, international diplomacy is too important to get caught up in petty anoyances and insults, but this was neither! It would be one thing if Putin were running late on his schedule and arrived to the meeting after it was scheduled to start. That was not what happened today in Moscow. Putin deliberately came late (that's really, really, really late) to the meeting with Kerry. The appropriate response would have been to have cancelled the meeting or to have postponed it to another time.
Look, international diplomacy is too important to get caught up in petty anoyances and insults, but this was neither! It would be one thing if Putin were running late on his schedule and arrived to the meeting after it was scheduled to start. That was not what happened today in Moscow. Putin deliberately came late (that's really, really, really late) to the meeting with Kerry. The appropriate response would have been to have cancelled the meeting or to have postponed it to another time.
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