BRUSSELS/MOSCOW: US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will skip a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Brussels in April, but will travel to Russia and Italy the same month, a US official said Tuesday.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry however declined on Tuesday to confirm or deny reported plans by Tillerson to visit Moscow, expressing its surprise at the “regular leak” of information from Washington.
Tillerson will be replaced by a lower-level official at the NATO meeting on April 5-6, a development that will likely fuel new concerns about US President Donald Trump’s commitment to the alliance as he pushes for better ties with Moscow.
“Tom Shannon (the US under secretary of state) will represent the United States at the NATO Foreign Ministerial,” the US official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
Tillerson will meet most of the foreign ministers from the 28-nation military alliance at a meeting in Washington this week, the official added.
“He has already met with officials from Ukraine. After these consultations and meetings, in April he will travel to a meeting of the G7 in Italy and then on to meetings in Russia,” the official said.
Under President Barack Obama’s administration, NATO sought to shore up support for the pro-Western government in Kiev after Russia’s annexation of Crimea and its support for an uprising in eastern Ukraine.
But during his election campaign, Trump expressed admiration for Russian President Vladimir Putin and said he would seek better ties with his government, while in January he dismissed NATO as “obsolete.”
Visiting NATO headquarters in Brussels last month, US Vice President Mike Pence sought to reassure the allies about his government’s commitment to them, particularly as the Baltic states and Poland fear Russian meddling in their affairs.
But Pence said that Trump expects NATO allies to make real progress by the end of this year toward meeting the increased defense spending target agreed by the alliance.
NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg traveled to Washington on Monday for the first time since Trump was elected, and will hold talks with members of the US-led coalition working to defeat the Daesh group.
The Trump administration has sought to involve NATO more in fighting the militants.
Meanwhile, sources told Reuters on Monday Tillerson planned to skip his first meeting of the 28 NATO allies in April in order to stay home for a visit by China’s president and then go to Russia.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in response to media requests for confirmation of Tillerson’s Moscow visit that the ministry was “not prepared to confirm or deny this information.”
“But we are certainly surprised by the regular leak of sensitive information from Washington,” she said in a post on Facebook.
“It’s time for US political elites to figure out if ‘Russian hackers’ have once again got into State Department servers or if the threat to US cybersecurity has an American origin after all,” Zakharova said.
Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said later he was unaware of plans by Tillerson to visit Moscow.
Skipping the NATO meeting and visiting Moscow could risk feeding a perception that Trump’s administration may be prioritizing US dealings with big powers over smaller nations that depend on Washington for security.
Tillerson worked with Russia’s government for years in his former role as a top executive at Exxon Mobil Corp. He has questioned the wisdom of sanctions against Russia that he said could harm US businesses.
![]()
Tillerson to skip NATO meeting in Brussels next month
Tillerson to skip NATO meeting in Brussels next month
US not expanding military objectives in Iran, Hegseth says
- Iran’s regional retaliation strengthen US alliances, Hegseth says
- US forces destroy 30 Iranian warships, including drone carrier
TAMPA, Florida: US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Thursday the United States was not expanding its military objectives in Iran, after President Donald Trump told Reuters the United States must be involved in choosing the next leader of Iran.
The Pentagon earlier this week said the military campaign, known as Operation Epic Fury, is focused on destroying Iran’s offensive missiles, missile production and navy, while not allowing Tehran to have a nuclear weapon.
“There’s no expansion in our objectives. We know exactly what we’re trying to achieve,” Hegseth said.
He added that Trump was “having a heck of a say in who runs Iran given the ongoing operation.”
In a telephone interview with Reuters on Thursday, Trump said the United States would have to help pick the next person to lead the country. The US and Israeli military campaign that started on Saturday has hit targets across the country and triggered Iranian retaliatory strikes in the region as Tehran seeks to impose a high cost on the United States, Israel and their allies.
Iran has attacked countries including Israel, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar. Fire crews in Bahrain extinguished a blaze at a refinery following a missile strike.
Azerbaijan became the latest country drawn in, as it accused Iran of firing drones at its territory and ordered its southern airspace closed for 12 hours.
Hegseth said by striking countries in the region, Iran would only bring them closer to the United States.
“It’s actually firming up the unity of the resistance in order to focus exactly where we need to,” Hegseth said.
Next phase of operations
The United States has hit more than 2,000 targets in Iran, including Iranian warships. Admiral Brad Cooper, the head of US Central Command, said US forces had destroyed 30 Iranian warships, including an Iranian drone carrier ship earlier on Thursday.
Cooper said the United States was hitting Iran’s ability to rebuild.
“As we transition to the next phase of this operation, we will systematically dismantle Iran’s missile production capability for the future, and that’s absolutely in progress,” Cooper said, adding that it would take some time.
The US military has identified the six US Army Reserve soldiers killed when a drone slammed into a US military facility in Port Shuaiba, Kuwait.
Trump and other senior officials have warned the Iran conflict will result in more US military deaths.
Hegseth, during the press conference, said Iran was making a mistake if it believed that the United States could not sustain the ongoing war, adding that Washington had just begun to fight.
“Iran is hoping that we cannot sustain this, which is a really bad miscalculation,” Hegseth said. “We set the timeline.”
The Pentagon earlier this week said the military campaign, known as Operation Epic Fury, is focused on destroying Iran’s offensive missiles, missile production and navy, while not allowing Tehran to have a nuclear weapon.
“There’s no expansion in our objectives. We know exactly what we’re trying to achieve,” Hegseth said.
He added that Trump was “having a heck of a say in who runs Iran given the ongoing operation.”
In a telephone interview with Reuters on Thursday, Trump said the United States would have to help pick the next person to lead the country. The US and Israeli military campaign that started on Saturday has hit targets across the country and triggered Iranian retaliatory strikes in the region as Tehran seeks to impose a high cost on the United States, Israel and their allies.
Iran has attacked countries including Israel, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar. Fire crews in Bahrain extinguished a blaze at a refinery following a missile strike.
Azerbaijan became the latest country drawn in, as it accused Iran of firing drones at its territory and ordered its southern airspace closed for 12 hours.
Hegseth said by striking countries in the region, Iran would only bring them closer to the United States.
“It’s actually firming up the unity of the resistance in order to focus exactly where we need to,” Hegseth said.
Next phase of operations
The United States has hit more than 2,000 targets in Iran, including Iranian warships. Admiral Brad Cooper, the head of US Central Command, said US forces had destroyed 30 Iranian warships, including an Iranian drone carrier ship earlier on Thursday.
Cooper said the United States was hitting Iran’s ability to rebuild.
“As we transition to the next phase of this operation, we will systematically dismantle Iran’s missile production capability for the future, and that’s absolutely in progress,” Cooper said, adding that it would take some time.
The US military has identified the six US Army Reserve soldiers killed when a drone slammed into a US military facility in Port Shuaiba, Kuwait.
Trump and other senior officials have warned the Iran conflict will result in more US military deaths.
Hegseth, during the press conference, said Iran was making a mistake if it believed that the United States could not sustain the ongoing war, adding that Washington had just begun to fight.
“Iran is hoping that we cannot sustain this, which is a really bad miscalculation,” Hegseth said. “We set the timeline.”
Latest updates
© 2026 SAUDI RESEARCH & PUBLISHING COMPANY, All Rights Reserved And subject to Terms of Use Agreement.