It rarely happens that the first visit of the chief diplomat fell at such a disadvantage as Secretary of State Rex Tillerson's visit to Moscow.

In addition, he is entrusted with an ungrateful mission: he must persuade the Kremlin to abandon the support of the Syrian dictator Bashar Assad.

Jerzy Khashchinsky, a columnist, writes about this in the pages of Rzeczpospolita, adding that convincing Moscow is difficult in any circumstances. And with the current - the more. Tillerson's task is actually to force Russia to abandon its key policy. Thanks to the support of the Bashar Assad regime by a small military force, it was able to regain its role in the political arena of the Middle East and the world, and also made the Russians feel that their country regained "greatness".

The day before his arrival in Moscow, Tillerson at a meeting of G7 foreign ministers said that "the times of the Assad family rule are coming to an end". And Russia should choose: either it will remain on the side of the Syrian dictator, Hezbollah and Iran, or together with the West will take care of the future of Syria.

"The way in which the newly-minted diplomat Tillerson will repeat all this to Sergei Lavrov (the head of Russia's diplomacy for 13 years) or maybe to Vladimir Putin himself (who has ruled Russia for 17 years) will test the new US foreign policy that arose a week ago after Chemical attack of the Syrian troops against the opposition-controlled city of Khan-Sheikhun, "writes the observer.

Asad became "enemy number one" for Washington. Attitude towards him begins to determine the position of the United States in relation to other countries. The positive effect of the US missile strike on the military base of Assad was that it united the West around America and Trump. The meeting of G7 foreign ministers showed that the most important EU countries support Assad's removal from power. But at the same time, they do not want to punish the Kremlin for supporting its crimes.

"Will it discourage Tillerson's desire to come out with a tough stance in Moscow?

I hope not," writes the Polish observer.

On the eve of Secretary of State Rex Tillerson's visit to Moscow, scheduled for April 12, the State Department was informed of his intentions to remind the Kremlin authorities once again that sanctions for armed aggression against Ukraine will continue until the Minsk agreements are implemented, and the "Crimean package" of sanctions remains in the Force until the return of the occupied peninsula under the control of Ukraine.