All eyes are on Tillerson’s debut at G20 in Germany
US SECRETARY of State Rex Tillerson made his diplomatic debut at a G20 gathering in Germany yesterday as Russia pressed the Trump administration to make good on promises of improved relations.
All eyes were on Tillerson as he held initial talks with his Saudi, Yemen and British counterparts but he was giving nothing away amid intense interest as to what President DonaldTrump’s“America First” policy really means.
America’s top diplomat was also due to meet Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov as controversy raged overTrump’s possible ties to the Kremlin and the resignation of his national security adviser Michael Flynn over contacts with Moscow’s ambassador. Russian PresidentVladimir Putin meanwhile called for restoring links between US and Russian intelligence agencies to face shared problems.
“Restoring dialogue with the special services of the United States and other NATO members is in our mutual interest,” Putin said in a televised speech.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov said separately that Russia and the United States were “wasting time,” especially when neither on their own could solve pressing world problems.
Several US investigations are underway into alleged meddling by Russian intelligence services in favour of Trump during last year’s elections, charges the president has angrily dismissed as nonsense.
Tillerson is a former head of ExxonMobil reputed for making major deals in Russia and having close enough ties to Putin to merit a top Russian honour.
Backtracking
Host nation Germany billed the two-day G20 meeting as a chance for the club of leading and developing economies to discuss how to work together on challenges ranging from climate change to conflicts in Syria, Ukraine and Yemen.
US relations with China are likewise in the spotlight.
Tillerson could have his first encounter with Chinese Foreign MinisterWangYi, whose attendance was only confirmed by Beijing following a conciliatory phone call between Trump and President Xi Jinping.
During the call, Trump reaffirmed US adherence to the decades-old position that Tai- wan is not separate from China, backtracking on earlier comments that cast doubt on the “One China” principle.
Tillerson is part of a major US diplomatic offensive after Trump caused dismay in Europe by dubbing NATO “obsolete,” praising Brexit, claiming the European Union is doomed and taking a distinctly softer line on Russia.
US Defense Secretary James Mattis was attending the second day of a NATO meeting in Brussels yesterday, while Vice President Mike Pence will be the highest-ranking US official participating in the Munich Security Conference from today.
“There are plenty of uncertainties about what they want, what they plan,” a European diplomat said of the Trump administration. “We hope we’ll get some clarity in the weeks to come.”