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<p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial Black",sans-serif;color:#1F497D">Francis A. Boyle<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><u><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial Black",sans-serif;color:#1F497D">(personal comments only)<o:p></o:p></span></u></i></b></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in"><b>From:</b> Boyle, Francis A <br>
<b>Sent:</b> Friday, April 14, 2017 2:10 PM<br>
<b>To:</b> SECTNS.aals@lists.aals.org<br>
<b>Subject:</b> Tillerson Failed to Defuse Dangerous US-Russia Tensions in Moscow Visit<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-left:.5in">Shared from sputniknews.com <o:p>
</o:p></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-left:.5in"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-left:.5in">Tillerson Failed to Defuse Dangerous US-Russia Tensions in Moscow Visit<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-left:.5in"><a href="https://sputniknews.com/politics/201704141052628702-tillerson-failed-defuse-tensions/">https://sputniknews.com/politics/201704141052628702-tillerson-failed-defuse-tensions/</a><o:p></o:p></p>
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<b><span lang="EN" style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson failed to ameliorate dangerous tensions between Russia and the United States during his visit to Moscow, US analysts told Sputnik.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:#333333">WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — Relations between the United States and Russia remain at historically bad and dangerous levels and US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson failed on his
trip to Moscow this week to improve them.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<b><i><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Open Sans";color:#333333">"The warmongering against Russia continues over here by elements of the Trump administration and the mainstream media: I have not seen it this bad in my political lifetime,"
University of Illinois Professor of International Law Francis Boyle said on Thursday.<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in;line-height:18.0pt"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:black"><img border="0" width="705" height="375" id="Picture_x0020_1" src="cid:image001.jpg@01D2B528.BD849DF0" alt="US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, shakes hands prior to their talks in Moscow, Russia, Thursday, April 12, 2017"></span><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="right" style="margin-left:.5in;text-align:right;background:#F7961D">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size:7.5pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:white;text-transform:uppercase">© AP Photo/ Alexander Zemlianichenko<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<b><span lang="EN" style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:black"><a href="https://sputniknews.com/us/201704131052611498-tillerson-lavrov-talks/"><span style="color:black">'Brilliant Negotiator': How Rex Tillerson Compares to John
Kerry</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in;line-height:18.0pt"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:#333333">Tillerson had failed to defuse Russian concerns over US President Donald Trump’s unilateral cruise missile
bombardment of a Syrian military airfield a week ago, Boyle observed.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-bottom:13.5pt;margin-left:.5in;line-height:18.0pt">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:#333333">"The entire situation is volatile right now… The situation is still extremely dangerous. Anything could go wrong. So far it does not appear that Tillerson’s trip did
enough to ameliorate the situation," he warned.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-bottom:13.5pt;margin-left:.5in;line-height:18.0pt">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:#333333">Trump’s attack on April 6 was clearly a violation of international law and the United Nations Charter as well as the War Powers Clause of the United States Constitution,
Boyle pointed out.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<b><i><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Open Sans";color:#333333">It remained "very hard to assess what went on over in Moscow: Like reading tea leaves. The jihadi terrorists could easily stage another bogus chemical weapons attack [in Syria],"
he warned.<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in;line-height:18.0pt"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:black"><img border="0" width="705" height="375" id="Picture_x0020_2" src="cid:image001.jpg@01D2B528.BD849DF0" alt="US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, shakes hands prior to their talks in Moscow, Russia, Thursday, April 12, 2017"></span><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-size:7.5pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:white;text-transform:uppercase">© AP Photo/ Alexander Zemlianichenko<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<b><span lang="EN" style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:black"><a href="https://sputniknews.com/politics/201704131052602879-tillerson-talks-russia/"><span style="color:black">The Outcome of Tillerson's Highly-Anticipated Visit to
Moscow</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in;line-height:18.0pt"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:#333333">Anti-Russian prejudice remained strong in the US government and media, Boyle cautioned.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:#333333">US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley’s "invective against Russia at the Security Council is deplorable. The list can go on," he said.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:#333333">Boyle recommended that President Donald Trump needed to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin as soon as possible to reset the entire tone of US-Russian relations.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<b><i><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Open Sans";color:#333333">"What is called for is a summit meeting between Putin and Trump to try to calm the situation down," he concluded.<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in;line-height:18.0pt"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:black"><img border="0" width="705" height="375" id="Picture_x0020_3" src="cid:image001.jpg@01D2B528.BD849DF0" alt="US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, shakes hands prior to their talks in Moscow, Russia, Thursday, April 12, 2017"></span><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="right" style="margin-left:.5in;text-align:right;background:#F7961D">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size:7.5pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:white;text-transform:uppercase">© AP Photo/ Alexander Zemlianichenko<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<b><span lang="EN" style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:black"><a href="https://sputniknews.com/politics/201704131052586480-tillerson-moscow-trust-building/"><span style="color:black">Tillerson’s Visit to Moscow Attempt to Boost
Mutual Trust, Russian Lawmaker Says</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in;line-height:18.0pt"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:#333333">University of Rhode Island Professor of Peace Studies and Non-Violence Nicolai Petro agreed with Boyle's
assessment, but warned that in the current political climate such a summit was extremely unlikely.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:#333333">"I would not hold my breath," he said.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:#333333">Petro said the outcome of Tillerson’s talks in Moscow with Putin and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was better than many had expected, but only because expectations
for them had been set so low.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:#333333">"You could say so, although since the tensions themselves have been manufactured, this sets the bar very low indeed," he said.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:#333333">Russia and the United States remained far apart on the future they saw for Syria, Petro observed.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<b><i><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Open Sans";color:#333333">"The US approach seems to be the same as in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya — prop up ‘good guys’ for a while then declare victory and go home. The Russian approach is that such
efforts to manipulate local politics always backfire and encourage… terrorism. A meeting of the minds is unlikely," he stated.<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></p>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:#333333">Petro also expressed the hope that the new diplomatic procedures set up during Tillerson’s visit could help create a more positive dynamic between the two governments.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-left:.5in"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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