Putin Now in Charge?

President Obama and members of Congress suddenly find themselves waiting on the gadfly of the world stage to call their next move in America’s foreign policy — Vladimir Putin, who until now was derided as the obstacle to an international solution on the Syria crisis. 

The head-spinning turn of events has many lawmakers worried, openly voicing concern that the Russians are in control, and that they and the Assad regime are not the most trustworthy deal makers. Waiting in the wings is Secretary of State John Kerry, who will travel Thursday to Geneva to meet with his Russian counterpart, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. 

Members of the Syrian opposition have also warned any deal that has Syrian President Bashar Assad turn over his chemical weapons would not stop him from using conventional weapons to keep fighting Syria’s bloody civil war.