Trump Administration Demands Russia Stop Supporting Syria

Tillerson's Moscow Visit Comes Amid Growing Tensions

While European nations were up in arms at Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s visit this week to Moscow virtually since it was announced, presenting it as proof the Trump Administration is too cozy with the Russian Federation, the visit is actually coming amid growing tensions between the two nations, centering on last week’s US attack on Syria.

Tillerson and other top US officials are being very public in demanding that Russia end all support for the Syrian government, warning that they would face worse relations with the United States if they failed to comply. This demand largely echoes those made by the Obama Administration.

Russia doesn’t appear to be seriously considering the demand, however, instead issuing their own public warning to the US that they’d better stop attacking the Syrian government, and that they’d face a military response if they attempted any more strikes.

As a result, Tillerson’s visit is going to be a very tense one, and in all likelihood what was initially going to be a talk on improved diplomatic ties is instead going to be several days of tit-for-tat statements of criticism on each other’s Syria policies.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.