With two decades of deal-making in Russia's vital oil industry under his belt, Rex Tillerson is Vladimir Putin's kind of man.

The Exxon Mobil Corp. chief is also in Donald Trump's sights for secretary of state, fueling optimism in Moscow that a longed-for thaw in relations is near.

If nominated and confirmed, Tillerson, 64, would join another supporter of closer cooperation with Russia at the top of America's policymaking apparatus, Michael Flynn, the president-elect's national security adviser. Add in Trump's nominee for defense secretary, retired General James Mattis, who's viewed in Moscow as more pragmatic than his predecessors, and the Kremlin couldn't ask for much more, according to Sergei Markov, a consultant to Putin's staff.