Putin: 'Secretary of State Tillerson will go the right way in cooperation with Russia'

(Baonghean.vn) - Russian President Vladimir Putin believes that US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will "go the right way" in cooperation with Russia, even though Mr. Tillerson is currently working with an ineffective government apparatus.

Mr. Putin and Mr. Rex Tillerson used to have a close relationship. Photo: Politico.

"The relations between Russia and the US Secretary of State used to be quite good. We awarded Mr. Tillerson the Order of Friendship when he was the head of Exxon Mobil in 2013. At the moment, he may be working with an inefficient government apparatus. But I hope that cooperation and friendship will lead Mr. Tillerson to the right decisions" - Russian President said on the sidelines of the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok, Russia.

Mr. Putin also added that despite the tense changes in diplomatic relations between Russia and the United States, Russia still maintains cooperation with American companies, including Exxon Mobil, which was previously led by Mr. Rex Tillerson.

Recent tensions between Washington and Moscow are said to have had a strong impact on this relationship. Mr. Tillerson has even become increasingly frustrated with President Donald Trump because of his fading role and a series of disagreements between the White House and the State Department.

In just a short period of time, Russia and the US have continuously imposed a series of retaliatory sanctions on each other, causing the diplomatic war between the two countries to continuously escalate, and it is unknown when the "light at the end of the tunnel" will be seen.

The diplomatic confrontation between Russia and the United States has reached a new level, as the US government is pressuring Russia to sell some of its diplomatic facilities in the US, while the Russian Foreign Ministry is threatening to further reduce the number of US diplomatic staff in the country.

The tit-for-tat actions between Russia and the United States - two superpowers possessing up to 95% of the world's nuclear arsenal - not only push Moscow and Washington into a new diplomatic war, but also leave significant impacts on security, peace and stability around the world.

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(According to TASS)