Tillerson will meet with NATO counterparts, after all

WASHINGTON – Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will meet with NATO allies next week in Brussels, a move that could quell controversy over his earlier decision to skip a long-planned summit of the trans-Atlantic alliance.

The State Department said Friday that Tillerson added a stop at NATO headquarters in Brussels to a previously scheduled trip to the Turkish capital of Ankara.

Tillerson will be in Ankara on Thursday, where he will meet with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and other senior Turkish officials to discuss the fight against Islamic State militants in Syria and to “reaffirm Turkey’s important role in ensuring regional stability,” the State Department said.

The next day, he will go to NATO, the State Department said. NATO officials were attempting to put together a session with the other 27 allied nations.

Earlier this week, news that Tillerson would miss the NATO ministerial meeting, set for April 5-6, roiled the alliance. Administration officials said Tillerson would have to be in Washington to attend President Donald Trump’s first face-to-face sit-down with Chinese President Xi Jinping April 6-7.

At the same time, Tillerson’s aides announced he would be traveling to Moscow the following week.

Criticism was swift from European allies but also from several former American diplomats and key U.S. lawmakers, who said the decision raised questions about the Trump administration’s commitment to NATO.

During his campaign, Trump called the alliance “obsolete,” although more recently he has voiced support for it while also demanding members pay more money on defense.

In response, Tillerson’s aides said they were exchanging possible alternative dates with NATO to attempt to arrange a meeting in which all parties could participate. It was not yet clear if next Friday’s meeting will take the place of the April 5-6 session, which remained listed on NATO’s formal schedule as of late Friday afternoon.

Diplomats considered the ministerial meeting especially important because it will lay the groundwork for a May 25 NATO summit of heads of state and government, which Trump has said he will attend.