Russian views on Syria more nuanced than they may appear

 The Russian government shares many of the U.S. concerns about the continuing violence in Syria, but Moscow is reluctant to embrace Washington's proposals to solve them because it is wary of its motives, experts say.

"I was in Moscow a little over a week ago talking to our people in the embassy," former U.S. Ambassador to the Soviet Union Jack Matlock told CNN Tuesday in a telephone interview. "They characterized our positions as 95% the same."

For example, he said, Moscow has complied with many U.S. demands on weapons sales. "They have not been giving them offensive weapons; they've cut way back on weapons supplies. And just recently they've refused to supply contracted weapons."

He noted that Russian government officials were to meet with members of the Syrian opposition in Moscow.

Russia: Syrian opposition leader in Moscow for meeting with Lavrov

And Russian officials have backed most of the international sanctions imposed on Damascus, he said. "They are acutely aware that they don't want to end up on the wrong side of this."