After months of ill-advised interference by the United States, two Honduran presidents are back on speaking terms. Interim leader Roberto Micheletti and the ousted Manuel Zelaya have reportedly reached an agreement that could return Zelaya to power as a lame duck for roughly one month, before a newly elected president takes office. President Obama may spin this as a U.S. victory, but in fact it’s the culmination of the administration’s mystifying diplomacy.

The deal still must be ratified by the Honduran Congress and Supreme Court (which legally removed him in the first place). The State Department is confident the Honduran legislators and judges will reinstate him. In any event, a department spokesman said, the U.S. will recognize the results of the regularly scheduled presidential election later this month. Neither Zelaya or Micheletti are candidates in the coming election.