Russia has evidently achieved full access to Syria and Iraq and has begun negotiating with the Afghan government to influence its regional policies ( http://www.khaama.com/modi-likely-to-discuss-afghanistan-with-russian-president-vladimir-putin-1853).

It is as if a decision was made to take the Middle East back to the 1980s when Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan were part of the Soviet empire.

Unfortunately, even as Russia re-establishes the old Soviet empire in the Middle East, the people dying on the ground in that region are American servicemen and women.

The United States is losing its footprint, friends, allies, and influence in the region. In the current reset of the Middle East, the U.S. will have to pay a heavier price to get back into the region in the future, provided it has the chance to do so. The U.S. will have to pay an entrance fee not only to Russia but also to China, Iran, Turkey, the Kurds, the Arabs, and other  regional power brokers.

U.S. relationships as they stand now are based on buying friends through money and foreign military sales. This is not a formula for successful and enduring partnerships between the United States and its “allies” in the region.

The Yahoo article states:  “Moscow (AFP) – Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Wednesday hosted Turkey’s pro-Kurdish party leader Selahattin Demirtas for talks on the Syrian conflict and Moscow’s potential support for Kurdish groups fighting Islamic State jihadists.”
“Ankara is warily watching if Moscow will tighten links with Kurdish factions amid the crisis in bilateral ties following the downing of a Russian bomber by Turkey at the Syrian border last month.”

http://news.yahoo.com/russian-fm-hosts-pro-kurdish-party-leader-syria-173102124.html

Related Articles:

http://nec-se.webbar312.net/2015/10/16/the-new-model-of-power-relations-and-the-middle-east-crisis-3/

http://nec-se.webbar312.net/2015/12/02/world-powers-are-stumbling-their-way-into-another-reset-of-the-middle-east-in-2065/