Thread: Tillerson to skip first NATO meeting, head to Russia following week

Tillerson to skip first NATO meeting, head to Russia following week

By Anna Giaritelli
3/20/17 9:55 PM

State Sec. Rex Tillerson is expected to skip an April 5-6 NATO meeting with the group's 28 members to instead join President Trump at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida for a talk with Chinese President Xi JinPing, according to a report published Monday evening.

The Brussels meeting would have been Tillerson's first as the U.S. representative to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Tillerson is also planning a trip to Moscow in mid-April, which could irk U.S. allies who see it as Russia's needs being put above theirs.

"It feeds this narrative that somehow the Trump administration is playing footsy with Russia," one former U.S. official told Reuters. "You don't want to do your early business with the world's great autocrats. You want to start with the great democracies, and NATO is the security instrument of the transatlantic group of great democracies."
Tillerson has a relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The former Exxon Mobil CEO worked with the Russian government for a number of years pushing for changes that would benefit the oil giant.

NATO was created in 1949 as a way of countering the influence of the Soviet Union, which could make Tillerson's not attending the inaugural meeting odd.

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/ti...ticle/2617944#!

Trump is doubling down on Russia. He's going to make peace with Russia, wait and see. This is something he and many Americans have wanted for a long, long time.

The issue with Russia isn't Russia at all, it's the "western democracies" of NATO. To continue to have US military investments in Europe to protect them from Russia, which I guess are pretty big business, or at least they think it is, together with the what I'll call sympathetic trade they've enjoyed all these years at our expense to rebuild themselves after the Great War, they need an "enemy" and Russia became the needed scapegoat. Perhaps at one time they were a threat militarily and perhaps politically, but Russia was never an enemy of Europe. Russia sacrificed the lives of 28 million Russians to save Europe as it saved itself, our dear ole Ally to whom we all owe much. Russia and its bloc of countries, were the only ones who refused to accept aid from the United States to rebuild after the war. Russia went it alone.

I hope the talks go well with Tillerson in Russia, and I'm sure they will. Russia is so important. Russia is actually the key to solving Syria, Iran and North Korea.

Exclusive: Tillerson plans to skip NATO meeting, visit Russia in April - sources

Tue Mar 21, 2017 | 3:13am EDT
By Arshad Mohammed and John Walcott

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson plans to skip a meeting with NATO foreign ministers next month in order to stay home for a visit by China's president and will go to Russia later in April, U.S. officials said on Monday, disclosing an itinerary that allies may see as giving Moscow priority over them.

Tillerson intends to miss what would have been his first meeting of the 28 NATO allies on April 5-6 in Brussels so that he can attend President Donald Trump's expected April 6-7 talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, four current and former U.S. officials said.

Skipping the NATO meeting and visiting Moscow could risk feeding a perception that Trump may be putting U.S. dealings with big powers first, while leaving waiting those smaller nations that depend on Washington for security, two former U.S. officials said.

Trump has often praised Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Tillerson worked with Russia's government for years as a top executive at Exxon Mobil Corp, and has questioned the wisdom of sanctions against Russia that he said could harm U.S. businesses.

A State Department spokeswoman said Tillerson would meet on Wednesday with foreign ministers from 26 of the 27 other NATO countries -- all but Croatia -- at a gathering of the coalition working to defeat the Islamic State militant group.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg was due to have arrived in Washington on Monday for a three-day visit that was to include talks with U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis and to take part in the counter-Islamic State meetings.

The State Department spokeswoman said Tillerson would not have a separate, NATO-focused meeting the 26 foreign ministers in Washington but rather that they would meet in the counter-Islamic State talks.

"After these consultations and meetings, in April he will travel to a meeting of the G7 (Group of Seven) in Italy and then on to meetings in Russia," she added, saying U.S. Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Tom Shannon would represent the United States at the NATO foreign ministers meeting.

'GRAVE ERROR'

Representative Eliot Engel, the senior Democrat on the U.S. House of Representatives foreign affairs committee, said that Tillerson was making a mistake by skipping the Brussels talks.

"Donald Trump's Administration is making a grave error that will shake the confidence of America's most important alliance and feed the concern that this Administration simply too cozy with (Russian President) Vladimir Putin," Engel said in a written statement.

"I cannot fathom why the Administration would pursue this course except to signal a change in American foreign policy that draws our country away from western democracy's most important institutions and aligns the United States more closely with the autocratic regime in the Kremlin," he added.

A former U.S. official echoed the view.

"It feeds this narrative that somehow the Trump administration is playing footsie with Russia," said the former U.S. official on condition of anonymity.

"You don’t want to do your early business with the world's great autocrats. You want to start with the great democracies, and NATO is the security instrument of the transatlantic group of great democracies," he added.

Related Coverage

Russian foreign ministry says neither confirms nor denies Tillerson visit

Any Russian visit by a senior Trump administration official may be carefully scrutinized after the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation on Monday publicly confirmed his agency was investigating any collusion between the Russian government and Trump's 2016 presidential election campaign.

Trump has already worried NATO allies by referring to the Western security alliance as "obsolete" and by pressing other members to meet their commitments to spend at least 2 percent of gross domestic product on defense.

Last week, he dismayed British officials by shrugging off a media report, forcefully denied by Britain, that the administration of former President Barack Obama tapped his phones during the 2016 White House race with the aid of Britain's GCHQ spy agency.

A former U.S. official and a former NATO diplomat, both speaking on condition of anonymity, said the alliance offered to change the meeting dates so Tillerson could attend it and the Xi Jinping talks but the State Department had rebuffed the idea.

The former diplomat said it was vital to present a united front toward Moscow. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization was created in 1949 to serve as a bulwark against the Soviet Union.

"Given the challenge that Russia poses, not just to the United States but to Europe, it's critical to engage on the basis of a united front if at all possible," the diplomat said.

(Additional Reporting by Jonathan Landay; Writing by Arshad Mohammed; Editing by Lisa Shumaker & Simon Cameron-Moore)

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-us...-idUSKBN16S04I

'GRAVE ERROR'

Representative Eliot Engel, the senior Democrat on the U.S. House of Representatives foreign affairs committee, said that Tillerson was making a mistake by skipping the Brussels talks.

"Donald Trump's Administration is making a grave error that will shake the confidence of America's most important alliance and feed the concern that this Administration simply too cozy with (Russian President) Vladimir Putin," Engel said in a written statement.

"I cannot fathom why the Administration would pursue this course except to signal a change in American foreign policy that draws our country away from western democracy's most important institutions and aligns the United States more closely with the autocratic regime in the Kremlin," he added.

Making up with old friends to solve old problems is not a "grave error". It's an important strategy. So, lets hope it works, improves our relationships and solves problems in ways that are beneficial to both countries and our other allies.

I mean, why all the meetings with Europe? Europe's okay isn't it? They're all doing fine with their "democracies", aren't they? They've got an immigration problem, but nothing a simple "just say no" won't solve. They're aren't spending their agreed upon share of their own defense, but that's nothing writing checks won't solve. The EU may be "blue" about losing Great Britain and some more sure to follow, but that's their issue, not ours, and many of US here in the good ole USA are fed up with these trade blocs, aren't we? We want bi-lateral agreements of reciprocal free but fair trade, right? So it makes perfect sense to establish new and improved relations with Russia which has no negative impact on Europe, it will actually be very positive, a more peaceful prosperous continent and world.

I was thinking about Hillary's ties to Russia and the Uranium deal along with the large donation from Russia to the Clinton Crime Family Foundation. Why is this not being investigated also. The Clinton's are pretty sneaky. It could be possible that if Russia was involved in the election it was to assist Hillary in winning. The whole election should be investigated. Hillarys international donations in the election? Why is it illegal for some and not others? I am not saying Trumps friends are guilty or done anything wrong just this appears to be another one sided investigation as usual.

Don't know how this never-trumper got or keeps her job....

U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley: ‘We should never trust Russia’

By Philip Rucker March 16

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley. (Mary Altaffer/Associated Press)

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said unequivocally in an interview that aired Thursday that Russia should “never” be trusted — a far tougher stance than the one taken by her boss, President Trump.

Asked by NBC's Matt Lauer what she thinks Trump should do in response to Russia's cyber attacks meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign, Haley said, “Take it seriously. We cannot trust Russia. We should never trust Russia.”

Haley went on to say that the Trump administration should take “some sort of action” against Russia once investigations are completed regarding its efforts to influence the election.

She also sought to distance herself from Trump, who has said he hopes to build warm relations with Russia, perhaps by partnering to defeat Islamic State terrorists, and who has refused to criticize Russian President Vladimir Putin.

When Lauer asked whether she considered herself on “the same page” as the president in their level of distrust of Russia, Haley said she did not.

“I would not say that,” she said. “I'm not going to talk about where the president is, because I don't know. I have always made it very clear, from my confirmation and in the words that I've said from the U.N., that I don't trust Russia.”

Haley said that Trump is “very open-minded about working with everyone,” including the Russians, but that he has allowed her to “call them out” when she sees something wrong.

Haley said she does not have any questions about the relationship between Trump and some of his associates and Russians.

“I really don't, and I'll tell you why: Because I've talked to him about it,” she said. “And while they know of people, you've got to look at the fact that ambassadors' jobs are to talk to everyone. That's what I think we've seen the Russian ambassador do. At the same time, not once has he told me not to slam Russia. He's not once told me, 'Go and be nice to Russia.' He's letting me do my job.”

Haley has emerged as a frequent and pointed alternative voice on U.S. foreign policy, beginning with Senate confirmation hearings in which she parted ways with past Trump statements on Russia, the value of the NATO alliance and any ban on Muslim immigration.

As U.N. ambassador, she has stepped ahead of the White House with forceful statements on subjects including North Korea. Her statement that “all options are on the table” with the nuclear-armed country was widely read as a threat of military action opposed by China, a fellow U.N. Security Council member and the last stop for Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s debut trip to Asia this week.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...-trust-russia/

I was disappointed with this Trump appointment, but she is what she is, and I'm sure Trump knew that, so he had a reason and a strategy, lets hope it works.

The strategy...give her a role that she has no power. She is no longer a Governor...win-win.

Trump is cutting funds to the UN...and I hope with the eventual intent to get them off our soil.

As a child, I had a beautiful Russian family as my neighbor and friends. They were the most warm and friendly family that I have ever met. Only once can I remember the father being angry and that is when Khrushchev was coming to the U.S. He could not understand how we could allow Khrushchev to step foot on American soil. I remember asking him why he was so mad, that he was Russian. He raised his hand touching the scar (from a bullet) on his cheek and said "I am a White Russian and Khrushchev is a Red Russian. Red Russian's are communist. We escaped Russia because of the communist. Never trust or think all Russian's are the same." He told me the story of their escape (which later became a book and movie) and I have never forgotten. Never trust or think all Russia's are the same.