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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsTPM - This Was Not Normal: Russian Foreign Minister Edition (Josh Marshall's latest)
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/this-was-not-normal-russian-foreign-minister-editionBy JOSH MARSHALL Published MAY 10, 2017 9:45 PM
I wanted to add some context to one of the more surreal moments of this surreal day. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met first with Secretary of State Tillerson and then a short time later with President Trump in the Oval Office.
This is not standard procedure.
One obvious weirdness to this was that the meeting came on the first full day in which Washington was absorbing the shock of President Trumps firing of James Comey an evolving scandal which has Trumps relationship with Russia at its core. The meeting was oddly timed to say the least. Many also noted that while US press was barred from the meeting, Lavrov was allowed to bring the the Russian state news agency to photograph the event.
All the photos youve seen are from Tass.
But theres something odder about this.
Foreign Ministers dont usually meet with the President of the United States. Im not saying it never happens. It does sometimes, especially if its the foreign minister of a major power, which of course Russia is. It also happens when theres some particular business of importance to be hashed out. But Foreign Ministers generally meet with the Secretary of State, Defense Ministers meet the Defense Secretary, etc. Its a rather straightforward matter of counterparts, parity and status. A Foreign Minister meeting with the President, particularly a chummy meeting in the Oval Office, is not standard procedure and generally signifies a warmness of relations between the two countries or some specific business to be hashed out.
snip - more to read at the link
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TPM - This Was Not Normal: Russian Foreign Minister Edition (Josh Marshall's latest) (Original Post)
NRaleighLiberal
May 2017
OP
dhill926
(16,339 posts)1. we are certainly in uncharted territory....
next few months won't be dull, that's for sure...
CaliforniaPeggy
(149,619 posts)2. Another big, fat K&R! n/t
tavalon
(27,985 posts)3. These last two days have been way too packed
with surreal.