horse of george

How much do Russia's shifting opinions on Iranian sanctions have do with them trying to milk more concessions from Obama viz nuclear arms treaties, one of which, START II I believe, needs to be renegotiated by December? I say this because after making it reasonably clear a couple of weeks ago that they probably wouldn't support sanctions on Iran Medvedev, a short week after Obama cancelled European missile defense, has come out and said 'well, maybe we could... I dunno... not impossible I guess...'. I suppose an optimist would say that it's a positive response to a positive gesture and a cynic would say that it's evidence that Putin believes he can play Obama like a fiddle. I of course remain a cynic. What troubles me is that Obama was on again yesterday at the UN with his 'no nukes' agenda and regardless of how wise or delusional one thinks that is by aggressively pushing this agenda and putting the weight of his personality behind it he is in actuality putting himself in a worse negotiating position if Putin has ulterior motives - essentially saying to Putin 'this is very important to me and I'm willing to put my trust in you to make it happen' - as a cynic, that troubles me - just as in his role as cunning Machiavellian oligarch Putin is no doubt cheered by it.