Tillerson says US to recognize Crimea annexation if accords struck with Ukrainians

Sputnik
Thu, 12 Jan 2017 09:29 UTC

© AFP 2016/ BEN STANSALL

Rex Tillerson

The United States would only recognize Crimea rejoining Russia if broader agreements are reached acceptable to the Ukrainian people, Secretary of State nominee Rex Tillerson said in his confirmation hearing at the US Senate Foreign Affairs Committee on Wednesday.

"The only way that can ever happen is if there were some broader agreements that were satisfactory to Ukrainian people," Tillerson stated when asked whether the US can possibly recognize the annexation of Crimea. "Absent that, no, we would never recognize that."

Comment: US Secretary of State nominee Rex Tillerson also said in confirmation hearings at the US Senate on Wednesday he would advise President-elect Donald Trump after taking office to veto any legislation that would lift the trade embargo on Cuba.

"If confirmed, yes I would," Tillerson stated when asked if he would veto a bill to lift Washington's trade embargo on Cuba.

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's nominee for secretary of state set a course for a potentially serious confrontation with Beijing on Wednesday, saying China should be denied access to islands it has built in the contested South China Sea.

In comments expected to enrage Beijing, Rex Tillerson told his confirmation hearing before the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee that China's building of islands and putting military assets on those islands was "akin to Russia's taking Crimea" from Ukraine.

Asked whether he supported a more aggressive posture toward China, he said: "We're going to have to send China a clear signal that, first, the island-building stops and, second, your access to those islands also is not going to be allowed."

The former Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM.N) chairman and chief executive did not elaborate on what might be done to deny China access to the islands it has built up from South China Sea reefs, equipped with military-length airstrips and fortified with weapons.

Trump's transition team did not immediately respond to a request for specifics on how China might be blocked from the artificial islands.

Latest statements U.S. President-Elect Donald Trump and his nominee for the position of the Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, have been making on Russia are meant much more for the audiences in the U.S. Senate than for defining the Russian vector of U.S. foreign policies, Leonid Slutsky, the chairman of the State Duma foreign policy committee said on Thursday.

"Tillerson appeared at the hearings in the Senate where he the approval of his candidature for the top post at the Department of State is to take place and the latest events show the strength of anti-Russian sentiments among the Senate's Democrats and Republicans likewise," Slutsky said. "That's why the statements made by Tillerson were, in most probability, aimed at pleasing that audience."

Along with it, he singled out Tillerson statement on Crimea. "If you take a deeper look at it, I got interest not only in the declarations on sanctions, cyberattacks and the like stuff, as they were quite expectable. I took note of the Crimean issue."

He recalled Tillerson's words that the U.S. would recognize Crimea's reunification with Russia only if the situation around the peninsula would be settled in a way Ukraine would find suitable.

"He said the only way to make this possible would be a broader arrangement respecting the interests of the Ukrainian people but it's known perfectly well Ukraine is a territory under external administration and Washington is handling a remote for it," Slutsky said. "Does this mean the start of a process of recognition instead of the 'Return Crimea' categorical demand?"

"Also, Tillerson doesn't deny essentiality of a dialogue with Moscow," he said. "In spite of the tough rhetoric, this leaves an opportunity for the restoration of constructive aspects of Russian-American relationship."

See also: Rex Tillerson's secretary of state confirmation hearings