Syria, Tillerson test Trump’s stance on Russia

Aleppo’s fall to Syrian government forces is shaping up as the first major test of President-elect Donald Trump’s desire to cooperate with Russia, whose military support has proven pivotal in Syria’s civil war. The death and destruction in the city is only renewing Democratic and Republican concern with Trump’s possible new path, reports The Associated Press. Though Trump has been vague about his plans to address this next phase in the nearly six-year-old conflict, he’s suggested closer alignment between US and Russian goals could be in order. His selection Tuesday of Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson, who has extensive business dealings with Russia and ties to President Vladimir Putin, fueled further speculation that Trump will pursue a rapprochement with Moscow. Indeed, Trump was already trying to portray Tillerson’s connections with Russia as a plus.Aleppo fallsA warmer relationship could alter US policy on nuclear weapons, sanctions, Ukraine and innumerable other issues - but none so clearly or quickly as Syria, where President Bashar Assad’s defeat of US-backed rebels in Aleppo is poised to be a turning point. Assad and Russia are expected seize the moment to try to persuade the US to abandon its flailing strategy of trying to prop up the rebels in their battle to oust Assad. That decision will fall to Trump. The president-elect has not commented or tweeted about the crisis in Aleppo and widespread fears of humanitarian disaster. Yet his previous comments on the broader conflict suggest he’s more than open to a policy shift. During the campaign, Trump asserted that defeating the Islamic State group in Syria, not Assad, must be the top priority, a position that mirrors Russia’s. Prioritising the fight against IS could put the US in closer alignment with Russia’s public position, in a Middle Eastern take on the adage that “the enemy of my enemy is my friend.” It’s a point Trump appeared to make during the second presidential debate when he noted that he didn’t like Assad, but added, “Assad is killing IS. Russia is killing IS.” And in his first days as the president-elect Trump suggested he might withdraw US support for the various rebel groups that make up Assad’s opposition, telling a newspaper that “we have no idea who these people are.”Trump’s soften policy towards Russia Aligning with Russia would make it harder for the US to corral the rebels’ more strident supporters into supporting peace mediation. Assad foes like Turkey, Qatar and Saudi Arabia might become more inclined to give extremists advanced weaponry despite US protestations. Concerns that Trump may soften US policy toward Russia, currently under tough US sanctions over its actions in Ukraine, burgeoned during the campaign amid signs of Russian hacking of political groups. US intelligence agencies now say the hacking was intended to help Trump win. Those concerns grew louder still Tuesday when Trump tapped Tillerson for secretary of state despite his history of arguing against sanctions on Russia, which could affect Exxon’s joint ventures with Russia’s state oil company. In 2013, Putin awarded Tillerson the Order of Friendship in honor of his efforts to improve US-Russia ties.