• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Tillerson: Russian sanctions will remain in place till Crimea returned

Status
Not open for further replies.
S

superdeluxe

Member
Tillerson saying all the right things, Also Mattis telling Russia to stop messing around with our elections

http://www.cnn.com/2017/03/31/politics/rex-tillerson-russia-ukraine/index.html

Washington (CNN)Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Friday that US sanctions against Russia will remain in place until Moscow "reverses the actions" it has taken in Ukraine.

The comments are notable given President Donald Trump's at-times reluctance to criticize Russia over its actions in Crimea, though he did declare last month that the territory was "taken" by Russia. As a candidate, Trump hinted he might recognize Russia's annexation of Crimea, and sources have previously told CNN that Ukraine-related sanctions were on the table for review as part of Trump's interest in pursuing warmer ties with Moscow.
"American and NATO support for Ukraine remains steadfast. As we have repeated at every ministerial and summit since Russia launched its campaign of aggression against Ukraine, NATO allies stand firm in our support of Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity," Tillerson said at a NATO meeting at the organization's headquarters in Brussels. "We do not, and will not, accept Russian efforts to change the borders of territory of Ukraine."
Click to expand...

And Mattis comments

Mattis, appearing with his British counterpart in London, also called out the Putin regime for "mucking around" in other people's elections -- a particularly notable claim coming at a time when federal and congressional investigators are probing alleged Russian meddling in the US elections last November.
"We look to engaging with Russia on a political or diplomatic level, but right now, Russia is choosing to be a strategic competitor," Mattis said during a news conference with Michael Fallon, the UK defense secretary. He also said "Russian activity" in Afghanistan "gives us concern," though he stopped short of saying the Putin government was arming the Taliban.
Click to expand...
 
R

ratcliffja

Member
The weird thing is that Tillerson has seemed mostly reasonable from everything I've seen of him so far. Despite his Russian business ties, he is up there with Mattis as the seemingly least Russian-leaning cabinet members.
 
I

ivajz

Member
ratcliffja said:
The weird thing is that Tillerson has seemed mostly reasonable from everything I've seen of him so far. Despite his Russian business ties, he is up there with Mattis as the seemingly least Russian-leaning cabinet members.
Click to expand...
Probably doesn't want more heat on him.
 
X

Xe4

Banned
I'll take it. Probably mostly saying that because there's a lot of attention on them now, but any reason to sanction Russia after the fuckery they caused is a good thing.
 
M

Mael

Member
"Psych, you shouldn't have trusted us to lift sanctions"
"thanks for the help, now that we're in power stop messing with elections"
 
S

superdeluxe

Member
ratcliffja said:
The weird thing is that Tillerson has seemed mostly reasonable from everything I've seen of him so far. Despite his Russian business ties, he is up there with Mattis as the seemingly least Russian-leaning cabinet members.
Click to expand...


I've been reading that there are two wings at the WH. The Mattis Wing and the Bannon Wing.
 
S

sangreal

Member
ratcliffja said:
The weird thing is that Tillerson has seemed mostly reasonable from everything I've seen of him so far.
Click to expand...

except, you know, doing everything he can to undermine human rights and hide from the press

and wake me up when Trump admin imposes more sanctions
 
C

CrocMother

Banned
Here's the thing though, Russia is NEVER returning Crimea, so he's basically saying sanctions are new status quo for relations.
 
Autoignition

Autoignition

Member
Bruce Springsteen said:
Get ready for the pee tape leak
Click to expand...

God, I hope this thing never leaks to the public. Keep it to the intelligence agencies, keep it in-house where I can't get to it, because I know that the second this thing leaks, I'm going to watch it. Because I have no self control. And I make bad decisions.

I don't need that kind of stress in my life.
 
S

superdeluxe

Member
In a round about way, Trump threatening to pull out of NATO unless other members do their fair share, actually hurts Russia if it convinces other countries to set up.
 
shadow_shogun

shadow_shogun

Member
Wow, Tillerson. Is this how he treats his boys? For crying out loud Putin even awarded him an Order of Friendship medal!
francis.png
 
S

SwiftDeath

Member
Trust Trump's administration to not vett their picks properly and just assume that Tillerson was going to roll over for Russia.

Who knows maybe it's all just a ploy but it sounds like Trump can't even be bothered to make sure his picks see eye to eye with his personal brand of insanity and dysfunctional nature
 
S

Stinkles

Clothed, sober, cooperative
If this isn't a coordinated effort with Russian approval it will be interesting to see their reaction. Based on putins comments yesterday I am guessing not. But who knows with this mess?
 
L

Lunar15

Member
I don't think this means much, but I have a feeling a lot of this cabinet is out of the loop. Honestly, at this point, the actual core trump team may be out of the loop, trump included. There's a chance that talks between russia and trump happened (I'd rate this as highly likely) but no one expected the outcome and all of the pressure of actually assembling an office has kept anything from materializing.

That said, once the state department actually comes together, it's anyone's game. There's just so many weird question marks.

Ultimately, Tillerson saying this basically means "we're not going to put any *more* pressure on Russia". It's not necessarily good either.
 
V

Veidt

Blasphemer who refuses to accept bagged milk as his personal savior
Tillerson was having lunch with Warner recently.

Damn. This is some spy novel shit.
 
J

JonnyDBrit

Member
ratcliffja said:
The weird thing is that Tillerson has seemed mostly reasonable from everything I've seen of him so far. Despite his Russian business ties, he is up there with Mattis as the seemingly least Russian-leaning cabinet members.
Click to expand...

It's interesting. The best way I can think of in actually explaining it is that, unlike so many others in Trump's cabinet, Tillerson genuinely believes in doing the job given to him, even if it's one he didn't want and is at odds with his prior positions. It's not the first time such has occurred in US history.
 
N

Nafai1123

Banned
ratcliffja said:
The weird thing is that Tillerson has seemed mostly reasonable from everything I've seen of him so far. Despite his Russian business ties, he is up there with Mattis as the seemingly least Russian-leaning cabinet members.
Click to expand...

Not allowing the press to travel with you, holding no press conferences and generally being coy and secretive will do that.

Let's make this clear though, he's gutted senior career State dept officials, left those positions unfilled, has no problems with a 30% budget cut to his department. He is the face of the department while they gut the insides and weaken our non-military position around the world.
 
K

KoopaTheCasual

Junior Member
ratcliffja said:
The weird thing is that Tillerson has seemed mostly reasonable from everything I've seen of him so far. Despite his Russian business ties, he is up there with Mattis as the seemingly least Russian-leaning cabinet members.
Click to expand...
Veidt said:
Tillerson was having lunch with Warner recently.

Damn. This is some spy novel shit.
Click to expand...
Yea, very interesting.

I wonder how dirty/clean Tillerson is in all of this.
 
F

fredrancour

Member
Lunar15 said:
Ultimately, Tillerson saying this basically means "we're not going to put any *more* pressure on Russia". It's not necessarily good either.
Click to expand...

Are there sanctions we're not already inflicting upon russia? When I hear things like "the russian gov't will run out of cash this year" it's hard to imagine there are economic tricks we aren't currently inflicting upon them.
 
L

Lesath

Member
Isn't Tillerson also responsible for essentially gutting our State Department of our most experienced diplomats?

I mean, Russia would be stupid to expect sanctions being lifted in this political environment. At best, I think, they would be satisfied with undermining the influence of the United States worldwide. Mission accomplished.
 
C

CrocMother

Banned
Lesath said:
Isn't Tillerson also responsible for essentially gutting our State Department of our most experienced diplomats?

I mean, Russia would be stupid to expect sanctions being lifted in this political environment. At best, I think, they would be satisfied with undermining the influence of the United States worldwide. Mission accomplished.
Click to expand...

The United States doesn't appear to need help with that.
 
M

Miles Quaritch

Member
This is nothing more than reading the situation. Had the narrative surrounding Trump and Russia not been as bad as it is now and Trump not been as unpopular as he they would have pushed removing those sanctions in a heartbeat.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

  • Locked
Elon Musk vs Brazil’s Federal Supreme Court
Social Opinion News
12
2K
AJUMP23 replied
[Guardian] Russian painting vandalised by ‘bored’ gallery guard who drew eyes on it
News
34
2K
Punished Miku replied
  • Locked
Poland says it will not respect EU law ; EU: LOL
News
0
2K
Cyberpunkd replied
NYTIMES - Report Points to Microwave ‘Attack’ as Likely Source of Mystery Illnesses That Hit Diplomats and Spies
News
7
2K
DisguiseArrsick replied
Microsoft against cyber crime
0
606
nikolino840 replied
Top Bottom