Was Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov missing in action? Or did he have a good reason not to phone Secretary Kerry?

Following the third nuclear test by North Korea, "we have placed a phone call to (Russian) Foreign Minister Lavrov," said US Secretary of State John Kerry on February 13 after his meeting with Jordan counterpart Nasser Judeh. The first call was dialed on February 11. According to information gathered by DiploNews, Mr Lavrov had not telephoned Mr Kerry back in six days. On February 12, US State Department Spokesperson Victoria Nuland acknowledged that Secretary Kerry had "not yet connected" with Foreign Minister Lavrov. "Foreign Minister Lavrov is on the road, but he has put out a call for him," Ms Nuland added.

"There has been nothing frantic" about calling Mr Lavrov, Mr Kerry just "reached out" to him, she replied to a journalist on February 13. "From our perspective, the Secretary would like to talk to (Mr Lavrov). It's up to him whether he wants to take that opportunity," she said on February 14. Was the Russian official missing in action? On February 15, Mr Kerry had not yet connected by phone with him. Had Mr Lavrov not enough time to talk with Mr Kerry? "He is used not to answer calls when he is on an official visit," a US source told DiploNews. Even though this is Mr Kerry on the line?

Lastly, on February 17, the Russian Foreign Minister returned Mr Kerry's call and spoke for nearly 30 minutes about the North Korean nuclear test and the ongoing crisis in Syria. "They discussed the importance of the United States and Russia using their respective influence on the parties in support of a viable political transition process," in Syria, Ms Nuland stated. It appears Russia has grown more and more dissatisfied with what it labels United States' "meddling in Syria." Media said the reason for keeping communication channels closed for 6 days was Mr Lavrov's discontent with former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton who somehow accused Russia of pursuing a "re-Sovietization" policy in the Caucasian neighborhood.

The most relevant reason, according to DiploNews, may likely have been the successful flight-test of Aegis Ballistic Defense System barely a few hours after North Korea detonated its third nuclear bomb. On February 15, Secretary Kerry described the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) as the "the cutting edge of American foreign policy." It likely added to the already existing tensions in the Russo-American relationship. Indeed in September 2012, the Kremlin asked USAID to leave Russia. It is not up to the United States "to pass judgment and adopt legislations (...) regarding the Magnitsky case," Mr Lavrov told the Charlie Rose Show.

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