Analysis Reticent Rex no more, Tillerson’s Russia trip highlights his emergence from shadows

Criticised for his low-profile diplomacy, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is emerging from the shadows with a leading public role in shaping and explaining the Trump administration’s missile strikes in Syria.

And he’s set for an even higher-profile mission, heading to Moscow this week under the twin clouds of Russia’s US election meddling and its possible support for a Syrian chemical weapons attack.

Since taking office in February, the former Exxon Mobil CEO has admittedly shunned the spotlight and the press. Yet, the once-reticent Tillerson was surprisingly visible during last week’s announcement of the response to the gruesome chemical attack, fielding questions from reporters on and off camera, and then captured in an official White House photo seated next to President Donald Trump as they heard the result of the 59 cruise missiles that struck a Syrian military base.

Tillerson was a prominent fixture during the most important foreign policy period in Trump’s young presidency: a two-day summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping that coincided with the strikes against Syria. He was by Trump’s side during his meetings with Xi and spoke publicly multiple times to address both issues.

It was Tillerson who delivered the Trump administration’s first blistering condemnation of Russia in the hours after the strikes. Standing in a cramped conference room alongside national security adviser H.R. McMaster, Tillerson said Moscow had “failed” to live up to its obligations under a 2013 agreement to strip Syria of its chemical weapons stockpiles. “Either Russia has been complicit or Russia has simply been incompetent in its ability to deliver on its end of that agreement,” he said.

On Sunday, he made his first network television interview appearances. In one interview, Tillerson said he sees no reason for retaliation from Russia for the US missile strikes. Russia maintains a close political and military alliance with President Bashar Assad’s government and has been accused of supporting its attacks against Syrians opposed to Assad’s rule — something Moscow adamantly denies.