After almost two years on the outside, signs are growing that Russia may soon be invited in from the cold. In mid-January, the US and the EU lifted sanctions against Iran. Some experts suppose that the anti-Russian sanctions can also be axed. The main reason for this action is that the US and the EU need staunch allies to settle conflict in Syria and other troubled regions.

“There have been clear signs of a ‘pacification’ process recently,” Simon Quijano-Evans, chief emerging markets strategist at Commerzbank told Bloomberg this week. “It does look as though all sides are starting to push more markedly for resolutions to the current geopolitical mess.” Secretary of State John Kerry used Davos, Switzerland, as a high-profile platform to raise the prospect that the US may consider lifting sanctions later this year, assuming the terms of the so-called Minsk accord are implemented. Besides, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble wrote that the EU should forge closer ties with Russia to help resolve the civil war in Syria. Economy Minister Emmanuel Macron also said that France would like to see sanctions lifted by the summer.

“Calls for better relations with Russia show Putin’s success at convincing them that he’s interested in conflict resolution, even when that’s not necessarily the case, said James Nixey,” head of the Russia and Eurasia program at the UK’s Chatham House think tank.

On January 29th, inter-Syrian talks were launched in Geneva. Russian is the leading participant of the process. This fact also supports lifting of the anti-Russian sanctions.