National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster said Sunday that there is nowhere for the U.S. relationship with Russia to go but up.
“Well, when relations are at the lowest point, there’s nowhere to go but up,” McMaster said during an interview on ABC’s “This Week” when asked what gives President Trump confidence things would “work out fine” between the two countries.
McMaster added that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s trip to Russia was “perfectly timed.”
“Russia has given support to a murderous regime in Syria that has perpetuated a civil war and a cycle of violence that, along with obviously the brutal efforts of and actions of ISIS, have brought suffering to so many people, have created a crisis within Syria that has bled over into Iraq, and of course has bled over into neighboring countries and into Europe and so forth,” McMaster explained.
Russia’s support for Syrian leader Bashar Assad and that “kind of horrible regime” is something that “has to be drawn into question.”
“And so I think it’s time though, now, to have those tough discussions with Russia. And there’s nobody to do it than our secretary of state. And then also to find areas of cooperation,” McMaster said.
When asked if there need to be more troops in Syria, he replied: “That remains to be seen.”
The relationship between Moscow and Washington has tensed up following a chemical attack in Syria that the U.S. and its allies say was carried out by Assad and backed by Russian President Vladimir Putin. In response, Trump launched a missile strike on a Syrian airfield.
Trump last week tweeted that things will “work out fine between the U.S.A. and Russia. At the right time everyone will come to their senses & there will be lasting peace.”
