蒂勒森计划缺席北约外长会议引发批评

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has come under fire for a decision not to attend next month's NATO foreign ministers meeting in Brussels, and for an announcement that he will travel to Russia later in April.

At Tuesday's State Department briefing, acting spokesman Mark Toner said the problem is a scheduling conflict.

Rather than have his first meeting of the 28 NATO allies, Tillerson is set to attend President Donald Trump's meeting April 6-7 with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, Reuters news agency reported.

Toner said Tom Shannon, acting deputy secretary of state for political affairs and former acting secretary, will represent the U.S. at the NATO meeting.

Asked about what message Tillerson's absence at the NATO meeting would send to close U.S. allies, Toner stressed that the United States remains 100 percent committed to NATO. Toner also noted that Tillerson is meeting with most, if not all, of the NATO foreign ministers Wednesday when the Coalition to Defeat Islamic State meets in Washington.

President Trump has repeatedly dismissed NATO as "obsolete," though his Vice President Mike Pence voiced staunch U.S. support for the alliance during a news conference in Brussels last month and Tillerson has also expressed his support for NATO.