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Funny thing is, that most of his Russian counterparts, have been caught ‘unawares’ by this Hail-Mary, unplanned trip, by the U.S. Secretary of State. Huh, he’s doing what!? ... Now?
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RT News — 21 Mar, 2017
Moscow diplomats say they are not aware of any preparations for a visit by US State Secretary Rex Tillerson. Reuters said the American would arrive in Russia in April.
When asked about the reported visit on Tuesday, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov told Interfax: “I know nothing about it.”
Russia’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Maria Zakharova, said she could not confirm Tillerson’s visit either.
“At this stage, we do not intend to neither confirm nor refute the information which emerged [in the media],” Zakharova wrote on her FB page, pointing out that the information had initially been leaked.
“It is time for US political elites to decide: have ‘the Russian hackers’ hacked the US State Department servers again or is the threat to the security of US information of an American origin?” she joked.
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Forbes.com explains this impromptu, rushed visit by the U.S. Secretary of State, this way
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Russia got a call from State Department chief Rex Tillerson on Tuesday following a weekend of antagonistic headlines that gave Moscow pause about Washington's stated attempt at resetting relations. Tillerson phoned his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, to discuss the passing of a Russian United Nations diplomat in New York last week, as well as bilateral relations. The call was initiated from Washington. Details of the call on the Russian-side were not released.
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Tillerson, a former Exxon CEO with a $720 million joint venture with Rosneft on ice due to sanctions, said on Feb. 16 that he and Lavrov had a "productive meeting" on the sidelines of the G20 foreign ministers meeting in Germany. His language was not much different than what Kerry would have said. "The United States will consider working with Russia where we can find areas of practical cooperation that will benefit the American people. Where we do not see eye to eye, the United States will stand up for the interests and values of America and her allies. As we search for new common ground, we expect Russia to honor its commitment to the Minsk agreements and work to de-escalate the violence in the Ukraine," he said.
Russia annexed Crimea in March 2014 following a secession vote by a largely ethnic Russian, autonomous political body in the Ukrainian southeastern peninsula. Crimea is home to Russia's only warm water naval port, located in the Black Sea. [...] Washington and Brussels put sanctions on banks and Russian oil and gas firms in July 2014. The sanctions were negative for Exxon. The company has said that it's lost an estimated $1 billion due to their stalled JV [joint venture] with Rosneft in the Kara Sea. [...]
All of this glad-handing with the perpetrators of the 2016 Election hacking scandal, could ‘possibly’ be seen {cough} as just “expanding opportunities” or “normalizing relations” — if it were not for the former Exxon CEO’s “golden parachute” options, also hanging in “the balance”, with a sell-by date of May 2.
Hmmm? I wonder where Exxon’s Stock Price will be by then? ... and how much will Rex’s personal 600,000 Shares be worth then, after his whirlwind “Russian-reset” mission … is in the rear-view mirror?
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