Rex picks Russia over Nato for meet, invites allies’ ire
Washington, March 21: US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will skip a Nato meeting in April but travel to Russia the same month, officials said on Tuesday, fuelling fears about Washington’s commitment to the alliance.
Mr Tillerson will be replaced by his deputy at the Brussels meeting on April 5 and 6, despite Washington’s efforts to quash questions about US President Donald Trump’s support for Nato and quest for better ties with Moscow.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping is expected to visit Mr Trump at his Florida golf resort in early April, and Mr Tillerson would be expected to attend, but state department officials gave no public explanation for his decision to skip Brussels.
Instead, they insisted Mr Tillerson will in any case meet most of the foreign ministers from the 28nation military alliance in Washington this week at a meeting of the coalition fighting the Islamic State.
“He has already met with officials from Ukraine. After these consultations and meetings, in April he will travel to a meeting of the G7 in Italy and then on to meetings in Russia,” one senior US official said.
In Brussels, the US will be represented by Tom Shannon, Mr Tillerson’s acting deputy. After almost two months in the job, Mr Tillerson has yet to appoint a deputy or any assistant secretaries and he has adopted a low-profile stance, avoiding public and press events and working with a small inner circle of advisers. — AFP