All eyes on Tillerson’s debut at G20 in Germany
BONN: 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 Donald Trump’s ‘America First’ policy really means.
America’s top diplomat was also due to meet Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov as controversy raged over Trump’s possible ties to the Kremlin and the shock resignation of his national security advisor Michael Flynn over contacts with Moscow’s ambassador.
Russian President Vladimir 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 told the country’s FSB intelligence agency 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 under way 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 US oil giant ExxonMobil reputed for making major deals in Russia and having close enough ties to Putin to merit a top Russian honour.
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 Minister Wang Yi, whose attendance was only confirmed by Beijing following a conciliatory phone call between Trump and President Xi Jinping. — AFP