Outgoing U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson speaks to the media at the U.S. State Department after being fired by President Donald Trump in Washington, U.S. March 13, 2018. (Reuters photo)
MOSCOW, March 14 (Xinhua) -- Replacing Rex Tillerson with Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) head Mike Pompeo as U.S. Secretary of State is unlikely to help improve relations between Moscow and Washington, said experts and officials in Russia.
U.S. President Donald Trump announced Tuesday the leadership change in the U.S. Department of State. Tillerson's sudden sacking has sparked worries over Washington's future foreign policy.
Oleg Ignatov, deputy director of the Moscow-based Center for Current Policy, said he did not expect Pompeo to alter the course of relations with Russia.
"I do not think that we should expect any progress. Relations between the two countries are very bad. And there are signs that they can degrade further," he commented on the think tank's website.
"I'm afraid that the confrontational tone on the part of American diplomats can only increase," he added.
Speaking to local media, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, "In any case, of course, there remains hope for ...a sober approach in mutual relations."
Konstantin Kosachov, head of the international affairs committee of the Russian Federation Council, or the upper house of parliament, said U.S. foreign policy came about as a result of "compromises between the White House and Capitol Hill."
"And in this sense, the strategy of restraining Russia, as an already existing compromise between them, will not change," he said.
Sharing a similar downbeat sentiment, Dmitry Kamyshev, columnist with the commercial Vedomosti Daily, said Tillerson's leaving demonstrated "a final collapse of a business approach to politics."
"Indeed, Trump's declared 'business approach' to foreign policy means doing in the international arena only things that are clearly beneficial to America actually failed," Kamyshev said.
He said the Trump approach demonstrated its weakness soon after his inauguration. When the Trump administration attempted "at least to establish a dialogue with Moscow," it was met with tough opposition from Congress and defense and security officials, he said.
Kremlin spokesman Peskov said he did not think the Russia-U.S. relationship could worsen.
"You see, it's hardly possible to fall below the floor. Therefore, there is hardly any fear of further deterioration," said Peskov.