Sputnik's sets the agenda for the week...Russia/Assad win...we lose Europe

How do you set the agenda for the week?  You do your best to set the tone on late Sunday or early Monday to establish the agenda for the first part of the week.  Sputnik has primed the pump with a series of stories that should knock our diplomatic team to their knees.

First...

"In this critical situation we have no other choice but admit that it is necessary to conduct negotiations with [Syrian President Bashar] Assad. [German Vice Chancellor] Sigmar Gabriel pointed out another uncomfortable truth: we need Russia back," the journalist added.
Earlier on Friday, Sigmar Gabriel called for mending relations with Russia and cooperating with the Kremlin in the Syrian conflict, saying that the West can't ask for cooperation while anti-Russia sanctions are in place.
"Gabriel said the West cannot maintain sanctions and ask for cooperation. He is right," Remme stressed.

Next...

London is ready to cooperate with Moscow in the fight against the Islamic State (ISIL) jihadist militant organization, UK Prime Minister David Cameron's spokesperson said on Sunday.
“We are clear ISIL [IS] poses a threat as much to Russia as it does to Europe and other countries around the world and therefore we should be able to find a way forward to work together,” the spokesperson told journalists.

Finally this...

“The US and (as of Friday) the UK, having spent years demanding Assad’s instant departure, now concede that he might stay on in an 'interim' capacity, Brenton said.
He added, "the US Defense Secretary, after a year of refusing contact with his Russian [counterpart], opened such contact last week in order to “deconflict” the two countries’ actions on the ground. Whatever the obfuscations around tomorrow’s meeting, Syria will be a key part of the agenda. The reality is simple", Brenton explains.
“As Putin says (and on this is to be believed), Russia’s overriding aim is to block the rise of Islamic fundamentalism, which is a direct domestic threat to [Russia] in the Caucasus and elsewhere.”
“They have seen the West bungle this, notably by the chaos left behind in Iraq and Libya. The West’s support for a moderate opposition in Syria is a delusion (didn’t the responsible US general tell Congress a few days ago that that opposition had “four or five” US-trained soldiers in the field?).”The only choice in Syria, he says, is between “the nasty (Assad) and the nasty and dangerous (Islamic State).”
The Russian president is bolstering the faltering Assad to prevent IS inheriting Syria. And the West, which is as threatened by IS as Russia, should join him.

If (and its a huge IF...everyone has an agenda) these reports are true then the US has lost Europe.  This info is spot on.  Various European news sites are reporting the same....almost word for word.  

The State Dept has lost Europe on the Assad issue.  Russia has carried the day.