Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is taking heat for his plan to skip next month’s meeting of NATO foreign ministers so he can schedule a meeting with China’s president and travel to Moscow later in April.
Democratic lawmakers and former diplomats criticized Tillerson for the perception of favoritism toward an adversary at the expense of longstanding transatlantic allies, Reuters reported Monday. Rep. Eliot Engel of California said the decision to forego the NATO talks, scheduled for April 5-6 in Brussels, is a “grave error” that lends credence to the view that the Trump administration is “too cozy” with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“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,” Engel said in a written statement.
Several headlines highlighted the change to the April schedule, while noting deeper inside the corresponding reports that Tillerson will, in fact, meet Wednesday with representatives from 26 of the 27 NATO countries. The representatives are in Washington to discuss counter-ISIS strategy.
In lieu of the NATO conference, Tillerson will head to Florida for President Donald Trump’s proposed April 6-7 talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Mar-a-Lago resort. (RELATED: Did Tillerson Fall Into a Chinese Diplomatic Trap?)
“After these consultations and meetings, in April he will travel to a meeting of the G7 (Group of Seven) in Italy and then on to meetings in Russia,” a State Department spokeswoman told Reuters, adding that Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Tom Shannon would represent the U.S. at the Brussels talks.
Ex-foreign policy officials said skipping the NATO meeting, which would have been Tillerson’s first with the entire contingent of the alliances’s foreign ministers, creates a perception that Trump is placing a higher priority on large powers while giving smaller allies short shrift.
“Not good,” former U.S. Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul tweeted early Tuesday morning. “Tillerson needs to go Brussels before Moscow.”
A former NATO diplomat told Reuters that by skipping the conference, the Trump Administration is sending mixed messages to allies concerned about Russian provocations in Eastern Europe.
“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.
Tillerson’s decision comes day after FBI Director James Comey confirmed the agency is investigating Russian meddling in the 2016 election, including ties between Moscow and individuals connected to the Trump campaign.
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