Secretary of State Rex Tillerson says “neither the President or I are very happy” with a new Congressional bill sanctioning Russia, but he expects President Trump will sign it, even though it will make “our life more difficult.”
In a surprise appearance at Tuesday’s State Department briefing, Tillerson discussed a wide array of foreign policy issues, covering topics from Russia to North Korea to Venezuela, as he marked six months as secretary.
Describing the relationship between the United States and Russia as being “under considerable stress,” Tillerson nonetheless reiterated the U.S. was still interested in maintaining stability in the relationship.
“I think the American people want the two most powerful nations in the world to have a better relationship. I don’t think the American people want us to have a bad relationship with a huge nuclear power,” Tillerson said in response to a question on Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decision to expel 755 U.S. embassy workers from Russia following the passage of a Congressional bill placing new sanctions on Russia.
“Does it make our life more difficult? Of course it makes our life more difficult,” Tillerson said. “The action by the Congress to put these sanctions in place and the way they did, neither the President nor I are very happy about that. We were clear that we didn’t think it was going to be helpful to our efforts, but that’s the decision they made,” adding that he expects President Trump to sign the bill.
“We will work with it. We can’t let it get us off track in trying to restore the relationship.”
Tillerson told reporters he will meet with Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov when he travels to Manila this weekend to attend a meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
Tillerson did point out one area where the U.S. and Russia have shared a measure of accomplishment: the establishment of a ceasefire in southwest Syria, which he said is holding.
“It is our hope that this first zone of de-confliction will hold with the Russians assistance and the Russians delivering on their commitment, and that we can find ways to replicate this in other areas in particular in the northern part of Syria, as we continue to liberate areas from ISIS”.
The Secretary of State also touched on North Korea, telling reporters the U.S. hopes for dialogue with the renegade country at some point, but that North Korea’s continued ballistic missile tests present an “unacceptable threat.”
“We have re-affirmed our position towards North Korea that what we are doing, we do not seek a regime change. We do not seek a collapse of the regime. We do not seek an accelerated reunification. We do not seek an excuse to send our military north of the 38th Parallel,” while adding “We are not your enemy.”
Notably, Tillerson seemed to break with President Trump on the degree of responsibility China shares in reigning in Pyongyang, saying, “We certainly don’t blame the Chinese for the situation in North Korea. Only the North Koreans are to blame for the situation.”
President Trump tweeted on Saturday about his displeasure with China with regards to North Korea. “I am very disappointed in China. Our foolish past leaders have allowed them to make hundreds of billions of dollars a year in trade, yet they do NOTHING for us with North Korea, just talk. We will no longer allow this to continue. China could easily solve this problem!”
Finally, with regards to Venezuela, Tillerson called the situation in the country “very alarming”, and said the U.S. is “very troubled” about the reported arrest of two opposition leaders following a controversial election on Sunday of a new legislative body, nearly all of whom are supporters of the current president, Nicolás Maduro.
“Clearly, what we want to see is Venezuela return to its Constitution, return to its scheduled elections, and allow the people of Venezuela to have the voice in their government they deserve,” Tillerson said, adding the U.S. approach is to work with coalition partners, notably the Organization of American States, on Venezuela’s future.
Verdi Tzou is a national security web editor at The Cipher Brief.
