. Russian President Vladimir Putin has made no secret of the fact that he would like some kind of political settlement with the West. The German magazine
Der Spiegel has just published a leaked official Russian memo outlining a proposed grand bargain in which Putin eases out its close ally, Syrian President Assad, in favor of a still pro-Russian regime that at least stops killing its own people. In return the West acknowledges what has been an open secret for several decades--that
Syria is Russia's sphere of influence in the Arab world.
Then the U.S., Russia, Iran, and the rest of the grand coalition can get on with the urgent business of eliminating or at least drastically weakening ISIS. Greater progress on getting rid of Assad was raised at a strategy conference on Syria held in Vienna earlier this week that
included senior diplomats from the U.S., Russia, Iraq and several other nations. No grand bargain was reached but the idea will surely be raised again at the G-20 Summit now under way in Turkey.