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| President Trump met with Jens Stoltenberg, the NATO secretary general, in the Oval Office on Wednesday. |
WASHINGTON — President Trump and Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson
sought on Wednesday to isolate President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia for
backing the Syrian government in the wake of its lethal chemical
weapons attack on civilians, and worked to build international pressure
on Moscow to change course.
In
Washington, Moscow and New York, the Trump administration publicly
chastised Mr. Putin but privately worked to hash out increasingly bitter
differences with him. At the same time, Mr. Trump embraced NATO
— a military alliance he had previously derided as obsolete — as an
effective and vital force for peace and security in a region where
Russia has been an aggressive actor.
During
his presidential campaign, and in his early days in office, Mr. Trump’s
approach to foreign policy included speaking warmly of Mr. Putin and
the prospects of a United States alliance with Russia. He had also
questioned the usefulness of NATO, and the concept of an alliance for
common defense to counterbalance Moscow’s belligerence.
In an interview that aired on Wednesday, Mr. Trump said that Mr. Putin
was partly to blame for the conflict in Syria and denounced him for
backing President Bashar al-Assad, whom he called an “animal.” Later at
the White House, Mr. Trump said that Russia had likely known in advance
of the Syrian government’s plan to unleash a nerve agent against its own
people, and asserted that the United States’ relations with Moscow were
at an “all-time low.”
In Moscow, Mr. Tillerson came away from a two-hour meeting with Mr. Putin — the first such face-to-face session of the Trump administration —
without reaching agreement on facts involving the chemical weapons
assault in Syria or Russian interference in the American election. And
sharply diverging from the meeting of the minds between the United
States and Russia that Mr. Trump frequently aspired to when he was
campaigning, there was no visible warming of the relationship.
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“There is a low level of trust between our countries,” Mr. Tillerson
told reporters at a joint news conference with his Russian counterpart,
Foreign Minister Sergey V. Lavrov. “The world’s two foremost nuclear
powers cannot have this kind of relationship.”
The most immediate casualty of the clash was Russia’s decision last week
to suspend a communication channel, set up in 2015, to share
information about American and Russian air operations over Syria to
avoid possible conflict. Mr. Lavrov said on Wednesday that “we’re
willing to put it back into force” if Washington and Moscow can resolve
their differences.
Further punctuating the Syria dispute, Russia on Wednesday vetoed a Western-backed resolution
at the United Nations Security Council that condemned the chemical
weapons attack. It was the eighth time in the six-year-old Syrian civil
war that Russia, one of the five permanent Security Council members, had
used its veto power to shield the government in Damascus. But in a
possible sign of Russia’s isolation on the chemical weapons issue,
China, the permanent member that usually votes with Russia on Syria
resolutions, abstained.
The vote came the day after Mr. Trump spoke by phone to President Xi
Jinping of China, whom he hosted last week at a summit at his Mar-a-Lago
retreat in Palm Beach, Fla. White House officials said they credited
the relationship between the two leaders that was forged during the
visit, and the conversation Tuesday evening, with helping to influence
China’s vote.
The day began with harsh words from Mr. Trump toward Mr. Putin, whom he had once praised effusively.
“I really think there’s going to be a lot of pressure on Russia to make
sure that peace happens, because frankly, if Russia didn’t go in and
back this animal, we wouldn’t have a problem right now,” Mr. Trump said
in an interview with Fox Business Network, referring to Mr. Assad.
“Putin is backing a person that’s truly an evil person, and I think it’s
very bad for Russia. I think it’s very bad for mankind. It’s very bad
for this world.”
Later, after a meeting at the White House with Jens Stoltenberg, the
NATO secretary general, Mr. Trump went out of his way to praise the
military institution, which he called a “great alliance,” and to express
disappointment with Russia.
Asked whether it was possible that Syrian forces could have launched the
chemical attack without Russia’s knowledge, Mr. Trump said: “It’s
certainly possible; I think it’s probably unlikely.”
“I would like to think that they didn’t know, but certainly they could
have. They were there,” Mr. Trump said of the Russians during a
30-minute news conference at the White House.
Even as they have intensified their criticism of Russia for backing Mr.
Assad, other senior Trump administration officials, including Mr.
Tillerson and Jim Mattis, the secretary of defense, have been careful to
say there is no consensus that Moscow had foreknowledge that the Assad
government planned to launch a chemical assault.
“Right now, we’re not getting along with Russia at all — we may be at an
all-time low in terms of a relationship with Russia,” Mr. Trump said on
Wednesday. Still, he held out hope that the United States and Russia
could come to terms, suggesting that Mr. Tillerson’s talks with Mr.
Putin had gone better than expected.
A quick détente seemed a remote possibility, given the level of tension
surrounding the aftermath of the Syrian chemical weapons attack. On
Tuesday, the White House accused Mr. Putin’s government of covering up
evidence that Mr. Assad had been responsible for the sarin assault,
which was launched from a base where Russian troops are operating.
Mr. Putin shot back that the charge was fabricated and accused the administration of Mr. Trump, who American intelligence agencies believe
benefited during the election campaign from Russian cyberattacks
intended to embarrass his Democratic rival, of fabricating the evidence
to create a fake confrontation.
Amid the rift with Russia, Mr. Trump made a striking reversal on NATO, saying the alliance had transformed into an effective one since he took office.
“I said it was obsolete; it’s no longer obsolete,” Mr. Trump said, standing beside Mr. Stoltenberg.
Mr. Trump attributed his change of heart to unspecified transformations within NATO, which he said were a direct response to criticism he had leveled that the alliance was not doing enough to combat terrorism.
“I complained about that a long time ago,” Mr. Trump said, “and they changed.”
It was not clear what the president was referring to; NATO forces have been fighting alongside the United States in Afghanistan for more than a decade, an effort focused on combating terrorist groups including the Taliban.
Still, the turnabout drew praise from some lawmakers who had been concerned with Mr. Trump’s previous stance.
“Without NATO, the Soviet Union would be quarterbacking half of Europe today and Putin knows it,” said Senator Ben Sasse, Republican of Nebraska. “NATO is the most successful military alliance in human history. This was the right decision.”
His comments came hours after a senior White House official said the Trump administration had supported the admission of Montenegro into NATO this week, in part to counter the influence of Russia in the small Balkan nation. Speaking on the condition of anonymity, the official cited “credible reports” that Moscow had backed a plot for a violent Election Day attack there last fall.
Mr. Trump on Tuesday signed the paperwork allowing Montenegro to enter NATO, two weeks after the Senate approved the move in a March 28 vote. The country’s admission, White House officials said in a statement, should signal to other nations aspiring to join the alliance that “the door to membership in the Euro-Atlantic community of nations remains open and that countries in the western Balkans are free to choose their own future and select their own partners without outside interference or intimidation.”
“I said it was obsolete; it’s no longer obsolete,” Mr. Trump said, standing beside Mr. Stoltenberg.
Mr. Trump attributed his change of heart to unspecified transformations within NATO, which he said were a direct response to criticism he had leveled that the alliance was not doing enough to combat terrorism.
“I complained about that a long time ago,” Mr. Trump said, “and they changed.”
It was not clear what the president was referring to; NATO forces have been fighting alongside the United States in Afghanistan for more than a decade, an effort focused on combating terrorist groups including the Taliban.
Still, the turnabout drew praise from some lawmakers who had been concerned with Mr. Trump’s previous stance.
“Without NATO, the Soviet Union would be quarterbacking half of Europe today and Putin knows it,” said Senator Ben Sasse, Republican of Nebraska. “NATO is the most successful military alliance in human history. This was the right decision.”
His comments came hours after a senior White House official said the Trump administration had supported the admission of Montenegro into NATO this week, in part to counter the influence of Russia in the small Balkan nation. Speaking on the condition of anonymity, the official cited “credible reports” that Moscow had backed a plot for a violent Election Day attack there last fall.
Mr. Trump on Tuesday signed the paperwork allowing Montenegro to enter NATO, two weeks after the Senate approved the move in a March 28 vote. The country’s admission, White House officials said in a statement, should signal to other nations aspiring to join the alliance that “the door to membership in the Euro-Atlantic community of nations remains open and that countries in the western Balkans are free to choose their own future and select their own partners without outside interference or intimidation.”
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