BONN // America’s European allies said they had won assurances on Friday from new secretary of state Rex Tillerson regarding Washington’s commitment to a political solution to the Syria conflict.
The G20 summit was the first chance for the new US administration to give a fuller picture of American foreign policy and Mr Tillerson used the gathering in Germany to hold a series of meetings with his global peers, reviewing crises from North Korea to Ukraine at a time of great uncertainty over president Donald Trump’s “America First” strategy.
Washington’s top diplomat joined a group of countries who support the Syrian opposition for talks on a way to end the nearly six-year war.
“All the participants want a political solution because a military solution alone won’t lead to peace in Syria,” German foreign minister Sigmar Gabriel said. Mr Tillerson had been “very involved” in the debates.
The meeting of the so-called “like-minded” nations – made up of envoys from Italy, Britain, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Jordan, the European Union and Turkey – was the first since president Trump assumed office.
Diplomats had said before the talks that they were hoping for clarity on whether US policy on Syria had changed, particularly regarding the future of president Bashar Al Assad.
The meeting came ahead of a new round of United Nations-led talks in Geneva on February 23 involving representatives of the Syrian regime and opposition groups.
Under Mr Trump’s predecessor Barack Obama, Washington was at odds with Moscow. The Americans insisted Mr Assad had to go. The French too have warned that Europe will not help finance the rebuilding of Syria if Mr Assad has any role in the post-war government. Russia on the other hand, provided military assistance to the Syrian leader.
But Mr Trump wants closer cooperation with Moscow in the fight against ISIL in Syria and is less concerned about what happens to Mr Al Assad.
Russia’s growing influence enabled it to seize the initiative and host separate peace talks in Kazakhstan with Turkey and Iran but away from the UN and the West. That first round of talks produced a ceasefire on the ground which, athoughfragile, has mostly lasted for six weeks.
But at the G20 summit, the West began reclaiming its position. Mr Gabriel said the “like-minded” countries had agreed to step up pressure on Russia to back a political solution and reaffirmed there could be no alternative to the UN-led Geneva talks.
“There should not be any parallel negotiations,” he said, but conceded that Russia’s support was crucial for progress to happen at the peace talks. “On its own, the regime in Damascus won’t conduct any serious negotiations,” Mr Gabriel said.
French foreign minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said a key stumbling block was Russia’s insistence on treating all opposition groups as terrorists.
A western diplomatic source said Mr Tillerson had stated clearly in the meeting that “there would be no military cooperation with Russia until they distance themselves from Damascus’s stance on the opposition.”
The former ExxonMobil boss, who kept a low profile at the summit and steered clear of press conferences, reassured allies by sticking close to conventional US foreign policy.
In his first one-on-one with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi, Mr Tillerson pressed Beijing to “use all available tools” to help rein in North Korea after its series of nuclear and ballistic missile tests.
The talks marked the highest level China-US encounter yet following a rocky start after Mr Trump initially angered Beijing by questioning the “One China” policy that Washington has followed for decades.
Mr Wang only agreed to go to Bonn after a conciliatory phone call between Mr Trump and president Xi Jinping in which the US president backtracked and reaffirmed adherence to the position that Taiwan is not separate from China.
With the White House embroiled in controversy over its ties to the Kremlin, Mr Tillerson was cautious in his dealings with Moscow, signalling there would be no immediate rapprochement despite Mr Trump’s pledges to take a softer line despite the unresolved Ukraine crisis.
Following his first sit-down with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Thursday, Mr Tillerson said the US sought cooperation with Moscow only when doing so “will benefit the American people”.
In his closing remarks, hosting foreign minister Mr Gabriel welcomed Mr Tillerson’s “active role” in the G20 debates. “I think he is someone we can work well with,” he said.
But other diplomats were less convinced, suggesting the Texan had been light on details.
Mr Ayrault said the US position on the Israel-Palestinian conflict came across as “confused” while comments about the Iran nuclear deal raised questions. “There needs to be more precision on many issues; for the moment, it is all very general.”.
Asked by reporters how his inaugural trip had gone, Tillerson kept it typically brief. “Met a lot of people, made a lot of new friends,” he replied.
Attention now shifts to the more high-profile Munich Security Conference where US Vice-President Mike Pence will make his international debut.
* Agence France-Presse
