DENVER – The agreement on Syria’s chemical weapons reached by Russia and the United States is important not so much for what it could mean on the ground – which remains to be seen as inspectors begin to flow into Syria and, we hope, chemical-weapons stockpiles begin to be destroyed. Rather, the agreement’s main significance consists in the fact that it was struck at all: US Secretary of State John Kerry met with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, in Geneva, that most traditional of diplomatic venues, and cut a deal on an issue of intense mutual interest.
丹佛—俄罗斯和美国在叙利亚化学武器问题上达成的协议的重要性不如对现场那么重要——调查者才刚刚进入叙利亚，我们希望化学武器库存已开始销毁。相反，这一协议的主要影响在于它集合了所有要素这一事实：美国国务卿克里与俄罗斯外长拉夫罗夫在最传统的外交场合——日内瓦举行了会晤，并就一个严重影响双方共同利益的问题达成了一致。