Donald Trump finalizes the position of Secretary of State: Russia is happy, Europe is stunned

President-elect Donald Trump's selection of ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson as US Secretary of State is expected to make Russia "breathe a sigh of relief".

Russia expects sanctions to be lifted

According to Yahoo, Russian President Vladimir Putin really wants the West to lift sanctions against Russia and the fact that Mr. Tillerson - a person with close ties to Russian officials - was chosen as US Secretary of State shows that Mr. Putin's expectations can completely come true.

Mr. Tillerson (right) and Russian President Putin have a very close relationship. Photo: AP

As a lifelong ExxonMobil employee—Mr. Tillerson is turning 65 and would have retired if he had not become Secretary of State—he understands the benefits of restoring business ties with Russia in the oil and gas sector. But that can only happen if the US lifts sanctions on Russia.

Before being selected as the next US Secretary of State, Mr. Tillerson was often present at the White House to discuss sanctions against Russia. Therefore, it is likely that, when he becomes US Secretary of State, Mr. Tillerson will have a certain say in whether the US Government continues to maintain sanctions against the US or not and how these sanctions will be enforced.

“The likelihood that Mr. Tillerson will view the issue of Russian sanctions the same way he did when he was CEO of ExxonMobil is close to 100%,” said Mr. Robert Weissman, president of the public interest group Public Citizen.

Putin welcomes Tillerson with open arms

Former ExxonMobil Vice President in Russia Konstantin von Eggert said that both President Putin and his close associate Igor Sechin, Chairman of Russian oil giant Rosneft, highly regarded Mr Tillerson. The two described Mr Tillerson as “a Texan who doesn’t like small talk and is very focused on the main job”.

From left: Rosneft Chairman Sechin and Russian President Putin received Mr. Tillerson in 2012. Photo: AP

In April 2012, Mr. Tillerson met with Mr. Sechin and Mr. Putin to announce a business agreement between Rosneft and ExxonMobil on the exploration and exploitation of Russian energy fields in the Arctic and the North Sea. A few months later, Mr. Putin invited Mr. Tillerson to sign another agreement with Rosneft.

At that meeting, Mr. Putin openly expressed his affection for Mr. Tillerson: “Mr. Tillerson, I am very happy to meet you. This is our second meeting in a short time. This can be explained by the very close relationship between your company and Russian businesses.”

At that same meeting, Mr. Tillerson said: “I agree with you that nothing can improve the relationship between the two countries better than businesses from both sides being able to cooperate and do business with each other.”

Then, in 2013, Russian President Putin personally awarded Mr. Tillerson the Order of Friendship of Russia - an honor reserved for individuals who have made great contributions to improving relations with Russia.

Tillerson has always opposed sanctions against Russia.

In May 2014, when sanctions against Russia were first put into effect, Mr. Tillerson said at ExxonMobil’s annual meeting: “We do not support sanctions and we believe that they will not be effective unless they are carefully considered and carefully considered. This is a very difficult thing to do.

Therefore, we always encourage those who decide to sanction Russia to carefully consider the huge losses that these sanctions can cause."

However, the administration of US President Barack Obama has said it will not lift sanctions on Russia if it fails to meet its commitments under the Minsk agreement.

In October 2016, Russian President Putin announced his withdrawal from the nuclear agreement with the US and demanded that the US completely lift the embargo if it wanted Russia to comply with this agreement.

“From Russia’s point of view, sanctions pose no less of a threat to its national security than nuclear weapons,” said Andrei Frolov, a defense expert at the Moscow-based Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies.

That is why, according to Boris Zilberman, a Russia expert at the Center on Sanctions and Illicit Finance at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, lifting “restrictions on exports of technology, software, and areas that enable Russia's energy industry to exploit and produce oil and gas” would be a top priority.

President-elect Donald Trump has said he will reconsider Russia’s annexation of Crimea and lift sanctions against Russia. Trump himself once stated: “As far as I know, the people of Crimea would rather stay with Russia.”

For his part, after the US election results, Russian President Putin congratulated Mr. Trump and the two maintained regular contact. On December 1, Mr. Putin announced that he wanted to “normalize” relations with the US under President Donald Trump.

President-elect Donald Trump is making the EU feel awkward if he decides to lift sanctions on Russia after he officially takes office. Photo: Reuters

Donald Trump continues to stun Europe

Many experts believe that the possibility of the upcoming Donald Trump administration lifting sanctions against Russia is very high: "We believe that the possibility of sanctions being lifted by the US in 2017 or 2018 is 35%," analysts at Morgan Stanley said in an article.

“It is important to remember that US sanctions are imposed by executive order of the President and do not require congressional approval. If the US does not maintain these sanctions, it will be difficult for Europe to extend sanctions against Russia,” according to analysts at Morgan Stanley. The EU is expected to review sanctions against Russia on January 31, 2017.

“If Trump decides to lift sanctions on Russia, it is almost certain,” said Deutsche Bank economist Elina Ribakova. And if Tillerson’s nomination as Secretary of State is confirmed by the Senate, the possibility becomes even more apparent.

Russian Senator Alexei Pushkov said: “The choice of Mr. Tillerson is very sensitive. Mr. Trump continues to stun Europe. This decision shows the clear intentions of President-elect Donald Trump.”

According to VOV