Russia: Tillerson’s Replacement Gives Hope for Constructive And Sober Relations

March 14, 2018 Focus Washington Foreign Policy

The Russian Foreign Ministry hopes that the firing of Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is going to lead to more “constructive” dialogue between Russian diplomats and the U.S. State Department, according to a statement from the Kremlin.

Reuters reported Wednesday that Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said ties between the two countries likely couldn’t get any worse and that Russian officials were hopeful that Tillerson’s replacement would lead to a reset in relations.

“In any case, there’s hope for constructive and sober relations,” Peskov told reporters.

President Donald Trump fired Tillerson on Tuesday and named CIA Director Mike Pompeo as his successor to lead the State Department. The President told reporters he made the decision “by myself,” hinting that he did not speak with Tillerson previously.

“I actually got along great with Rex, but really, it was a different mindset,” Trump said Tuesday.

Meanwhile, White House official said that Tillerson was informed on Friday that he had been let go in a brief phone call with White House chief of staff John Kelly, which occurred 3 hours after President Trump tweeted his decision.

According to a statement from a top Tillerson aide, who was later also fired, Tillerson had not spoken to Trump and was “unaware” of the reason behind his ouster.

“The Secretary had every intention of remaining because of the tangible progress made on critical national security issues,” said Steve Goldstein, undersecretary for public diplomacy and public affairs.

“The Secretary did not speak to the President this morning and is unaware of the reason, but he is grateful for the opportunity to serve, and still believes strongly that public service is a noble calling and not to be regretted,” he added.

With Pompeo becoming Secretary of State, his seat in the CIA has been replaced by Gina Hospel, who went under a lot of criticism by Democrats for her controversial past of running a CIA prison in Thailand where she was accused of using an enhanced interrogation technique called waterboarding.