Unprecedented American Weakness
More than one week after President Vladimir Putin announced he will expel 755 U.S. diplomats and workers and confiscate two State Dept. properties in Russia, President Donald Trump has not even acknowledged the attack on America and its emissaries. But late Sunday Secretary of State Rex Tillerson met with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, and told the Foreign Minister the U.S. has not yet even decided how it will respond, according to the AP. Tillerson did promise Lavrov the U.S. would have a response by Sept. 1, the date by which all 755 must exit the country or stop working for the U.S. in Russia.
Tillerson, speaking to reporters, also says he told Foreign Minister Lavrov that Russia’s interference in the November election has created “serious mistrust,” and is “certainly a serious incident.”Â
It’s unclear how those remarks were received, when President Trump last week at a campaign rally again dismissed Russian interference, saying it never happened.
One week ago Friday, Moscow announced it would retaliate against the Russian sanctions Congress approved, by expelling U.S. diplomats from Moscow and confiscating two American compounds.
One week ago Sunday, President Vladimir Putin personally announced he was expelling 755 American State Dept. officials from Russia.Â
Calling it “the harshest such diplomatic move since a similar rupture in 1986,” The New York Times reports “Putin said Russia had run out of patience waiting for relations with the United States to improve.”
Tillerson and Trump’s lack of response has stunned many. This is an amazing display of weakness that flies in the face of Tillerson’s claims of being a Russia hard liner earlier this year. During his January confirmation hearing Tillerson blasted the “absence of American leadership,” i.e., President Barack Obama’s policies toward Russia.
Now, crickets.
This is unprecedented weakness.Â
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