"Stent, who has a book on U.S.-Russian relations coming out soon, said Russia tends to compartmentalize its dealings with the United States, which tends to see linkages between issues. ???From Washington???s point of view, we want to be able to work with the Russians on Syria, if this conference ever comes to pass,??? as well as Afghanistan, Iran and other issues, said Stent, who is on a visit to R" . . . . .