US air strike gives Rex Tillerson a boost for Moscow talks
WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s visit to Moscow this week will be an early test of whether the Trump administration can use any momentum generated by striking a Syrian air base to craft and execute a strategy to end the Syrian war.
Even before Trump ordered last week’s strike on the air base in retaliation for a nerve gas attack, Tillerson’s visit was certain to be dominated by thorny issues, including Russian interference in the 2016 US election, an apparent violation of an important arms control treaty, and seeing what cooperation, if any, is possible in the fight against Islamic State.
Now, Tillerson is charged with avoiding a major US confrontation with Russia while exacting some concessions from Russian President Vladimir Putin. Those include getting rid of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s remaining chemical weapons stocks and pressing Assad to negotiate Syria’s future.
Russia, along with Iran, is Assad’s primary backer, and its intervention in Syria’s war has been crucial to ensuring his grip on power, although no longer over the entire country.
Tillerson said he had not seen hard evidence that Russia knew ahead of time about the chemical weapons attack but he planned to urge Moscow to rethink its support for Assad in the April 12 talks.
“I’m hopeful that we can have constructive talks with the Russian government, with Foreign Minister (Sergei) Lavrov and have Russia be supportive of a process that will lead to a stable Syria,” Tillerson told ABC’s “The Week” on Sunday. The US air strike on Thursday, meant to dissuade Assad from using chemical weapons again, gives Tillerson more credibility with Russian officials and will boost his efforts, observers and former officials said.
Even before Trump ordered last week’s strike on the air base in retaliation for a nerve gas attack, Tillerson’s visit was certain to be dominated by thorny issues, including Russian interference in the 2016 US election, an apparent violation of an important arms control treaty, and seeing what cooperation, if any, is possible in the fight against Islamic State.
Now, Tillerson is charged with avoiding a major US confrontation with Russia while exacting some concessions from Russian President Vladimir Putin. Those include getting rid of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s remaining chemical weapons stocks and pressing Assad to negotiate Syria’s future.
Russia, along with Iran, is Assad’s primary backer, and its intervention in Syria’s war has been crucial to ensuring his grip on power, although no longer over the entire country.
Tillerson said he had not seen hard evidence that Russia knew ahead of time about the chemical weapons attack but he planned to urge Moscow to rethink its support for Assad in the April 12 talks.
“I’m hopeful that we can have constructive talks with the Russian government, with Foreign Minister (Sergei) Lavrov and have Russia be supportive of a process that will lead to a stable Syria,” Tillerson told ABC’s “The Week” on Sunday. The US air strike on Thursday, meant to dissuade Assad from using chemical weapons again, gives Tillerson more credibility with Russian officials and will boost his efforts, observers and former officials said.
