Tabnak - US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is about to visit Moscow to discuss about a range of hot topics with high-ranking Russian officials. At the top of his agenda will be the Syrian Crisis and an attempt to persuade Russia to reconsider its support to the Syrian government as well as its military presence in the country.
USA Today believes that Tillerson’s visit to Moscow was going to be awkward even before the US attack on Syria, given multiple investigations into the Trump team’s connections to Russia and Tillerson’s status as a novice diplomat.
His trip, the first by a senior Trump administration official, will test his skills and also serve as a reality test for President Trump’s dream of improving US-Russian relations. However, the missile strikes on a Syrian airbase last week complicate this dream.
In Moscow, Tillerson is currently scheduled to meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. There isn’t still any announces plan for Tillerson to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Before his visit to Moscow, Tillerson has travelled to Italy to coordinate the US’ position toward Russia with some Washington’s key allies. According to the Associated Press, foreign ministers from the Group of Seven industrialized nations are gathering today for a meeting given urgency by the chemical attack in Syria and the US military response, with participants aiming to pressure Russia to end its support for President Bashar Assad.
Italian Foreign Minister Angelino Alfano, who is hosting the meeting, said Europe’s broad support for the US military strikes had contributed to a "renewed harmony” between the United States and its partners.
"We need to remember that not 10 years ago, but 100 or 120 days ago, the concern in Europe was that the United States and the EU were moving apart,” Alfano told Sky TG24 Sunday. "I welcome this renewed harmony.”
In a similar report, BBC notes that the search for a unified approach to the Syrian Crisis after last week's suspected chemical attack looks set to dominate talks between the G7 group of leading nations in Italy on Monday.
Therefore, the next two days will be dominated by a collective search for arguments to persuade Putin he must now end Russia's military support for President Assad and help accelerate a negotiated political transition.
UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson is expected to press the case for new sanctions against Russia if they don't give ground. Tillerson wants to go on from Italy to Moscow able to confront the Russians with a strong set of demands backed by key US allies.
Other recent signs also indicate that Trump administration is serious in its demand from Russia to give up on its support from the Syrian government. In this vein, Donald Trump’s national security adviser has called on Russia to re-evaluate its support for Syrian President Bashar Assad, leaving open the possibility of additional US military action against Syria.
In his first televised interview, H.R. McMaster pointed to dual US goals of defeating ISIS and removing Assad from power. "It’s very difficult to understand how a political solution could result from the continuation of the Assad regime,” McMaster said on "Fox News Sunday.”
All in all, it seems that a great importance is attached to Tillerson’s coming visit to Moscow, because if he becomes successful in altering Russia’s position regarding Syria, it could have wide-ranging effects on the overall situation in Syria. However, his task seems to be far from easy when it comes to a tough person like Putin!
