Yahoo News Rex Tillerson plans to skip Nato meeting and visit Russia in April, say US officials
America’s newly-installed secretary of state is to skip his first Nato meeting, it has been announced, and will instead greet the president of China and then travel to Russia.
The decision, likely celebrated in Moscow, has been greeted with surprise and anger from some in the United States.
Eliot Engel, the senior Democrat on the house foreign affairs committee, said that Mr Tillerson was making “grave error” by missing his first Brussels talks.
"Donald Trump's administration is making a grave error that will shake the confidence of America's most important alliance and feed the concern that this administration simply too cozy with Vladimir Putin," he said.
"I cannot fathom why the administration would pursue this course except to signal a change in American foreign policy that draws our country away from western democracy's most important institutions and aligns the United States more closely with the autocratic regime in the Kremlin."
A former US official echoed the view.
"It feeds this narrative that somehow the Trump administration is playing footsie with Russia," he said.
"You don’t want to do your early business with the world's great autocrats. You want to start with the great democracies, and Nato is the security instrument of the transatlantic group of great democracies.”
Indeed, Mr Tillerson’s presence at the April 5-6 meeting at Nato’s headquarters in Brussels had been eagerly anticipated, given President Donald Trump’s repeated questioning of the relevance of Nato on the campaign trail.
In office, Mr Trump has been more circumspect – telling both Theresa May and Angela Merkel that he did believe in the institution.
On Tuesday James Mattis, the defence secretary, hosted Nato's secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg at the Pentagon and attempted to underline US commitment.
"We have a very strong trans-Atlantic bond. It's getting stronger," said Mr Mattis. "It's built on a legacy of common commitments and common defence, and we never forget that in this building."
Mr Stoltenberg in response said he was confident the US would continue to play a leading role in Nato.
"I think we all understand that in times of turmoil, in times of uncertainty, the need for strong international institutions as NATO is even greater.
"So therefore, we need to adapt. We need to strengthen Nato in response to the challenges and the unpredictability we see surrounding us today."
He continued: "Strong Nato is, of course, good for Europe, and we are also grateful for the commitment of the United States to the security guarantees to Europe.
"But strong Nato is also good for North America because stability in Europe is good for all of us.
"Two world wars and the cold war have taught us all that peace and stability in Europe is important for Europe of course, but also for North America."
And Mr Tillerson, it had been hoped, would deliver an equally strong message of support at his first Nato meeting. But instead, it was confirmed late on Monday evening that he will remain in the United States, to be there when Xi Jinping, the Chinese president, visits Mr Trump at Mar-a-Lago, his Florida estate.
Mr Tillerson met Mr Xi on Sunday, in Beijing.
And after the Chinese encounter, Mr Tillerson will travel to Moscow for what will certainly be the closest-watched trip of his two month-old tenure.
Mr Trump has often praised Russian president Vladimir Putin, and Mr Tillerson worked with Russia's government for years as a top executive at Exxon Mobil Corp, and has questioned the wisdom of sanctions against Russia that he said could harm US businesses.
Tom Shannon, the acting undersecretary of state for political affairs would represent the United States at the Nato foreign ministers meeting, the state department said.
A former Nato diplomat said he hoped there might be a way for Mr Tillerson to attend both meetings, for example by changing the date of the Nato talks.
The former diplomat, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, said it was vital to present a united front toward Moscow. The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation was created in 1949 to serve as a bulwark against the Soviet Union.
"Given the challenge that Russia poses, not just to the United States but to Europe, it's critical to engage on the basis of a united front if at all possible," the diplomat said.
