John Kerry on how Americans should feel about Vladimir Putin
Secretary of State John Kerry said that although "there are still contradictions that we need to resolve" with Russia, the country has tried to be cooperative in other ways.
"We still have sanctions in place because of what Russia chose to do with respect to Crimea and with respect to the territorial integrity of Ukraine and that remains a challenge," Kerry said Saturday in an interview for CBS' "Face the Nation."
Before travelling to Brussels following the terror attacks there last week, Kerry met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow. The two leaders discussed ongoing efforts of the International Syria Support Group to maintain the cessation of hostilities, facilitating a political transition in Syria and plans to continue fighting Daesh.
"We talked at length about how we can move to have the full implementation of the process," he said of the Minsk agreements. Russia, he commented, has also been cooperative with the Iran negotiations and in relations with Yemen, Libya and other places.
In addition to U.S. relations with Russia, Kerry explained that today's world is more like the 19th or 18th century where individual states and their interests are at risk. He said that although there is a state actor in Ukraine, "Most of our challenge in the world today is coming from non-state actors and that is a very different kettle of fish."