On the day his secretary of state visited Russian Federation for highly anticipated meetings with President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, President Donald Trump called it "unlikely" Russian Federation could have been unaware of Syria's plans for a chemical attack last week that killed at least 87 civilians, including small children.
Tillerson also said it was important the two governments maintain open lines of communication, CNN reported.
"The world's two foremost nuclear powers can not have this sort of relationship".
Lavrov gave Tillerson an icy welcome Wednesday, diving straight into Moscow's grievances with Washington in what would usually be warm welcoming remarks.
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, left, and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov shake hands prior to their tense talks in Moscow, Wednesday, April 12, 2017. He sidestepped the question, focusing instead the larger issue of cyberterrorism, but he did say at one point that the matter is "fairly well-established in the United States" and "serious enough to attract additional sanctions".
Russian Federation today vetoed a United Nations draft resolution demanding the Syrian government cooperate with an investigation of a suspected chemical attack that the West blames on President Bashar al-Assad's forces.
The meeting was steeped in geopolitical intrigue, with neither country saying ahead of time if it would take place or not.
The Kremlin has been anxious to restart relations with Washington that were largely frozen after the annexation of Crimea three years ago, Lucian notes.
Putin, whom USA intelligence agencies say tried to help Trump get elected, insisted that relations with the US had only gone downhill since Trump took office in January.
Washington has said it is hoping to pry Russian Federation away from its support for Assad, but the Kremlin on Wednesday decried any calls to drop the Syrian leader as "pretty absurd". The diplomats know each other well from Tillerson's days as Exxon Mobil CEO.
"Time and time again Russian Federation has abused its veto to protect the regime and to defend its use of chemical weapons".
"As far as the argument that the U.S. has inconvertible evidence that we intervened in the U.S. Presidential campaign, I have to say once again that not a single fact has been confirmed".
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Trumps comments come less than a week after he ordered missile strikes on a Syrian airfield after USA evidence indicated that Assad killed civilians using the nerve agent sarin.
In addition to Syria, the talks between USA and Russian Federation are expected to center on North Korea, as the countries' top diplomats try to fix a relationship that Putin says has only worsened in recent months. "Russia's leadership has already voiced its principal assessments in this respect".
"We consider it of utmost importance to prevent the risks of replay of similar action in the future", he added.
Lavrov expressed doubt about this characterization.
Things didn't get less tense from there.
Mr Johnson said: "This afternoon in NY, the global community sought to make clear that any use of chemical weapons by anyone anywhere is unacceptable and that those responsible will face consequences". He called the U.S. "How does that actually fit in with American diplomacy?" a Russian reporter asked Tillerson at a press conference. Putin's decision to host Tillerson signaled Moscow's intent to maintain communication with the US even as they bash each other publicly in louder and louder tones.
Lavrov said he had a "frank" talk with Tillerson.
Later on Friday, President Trump addressed Tillerson's efforts during a North Atlantic Treaty Organisation press conference. "I do not know who saw them".
And he said that Russia was open to restoring a "deconfliction" hotline to enable USA and Russian military commanders to avoid accidental clashes over Syria.
"I will be frank that we had a lot of questions regarding a lot of very ambiguous as well as contradictory ideas on a whole plethora of bilateral and worldwide agenda coming from Washington", Lavrov said.
But he stressed: "Just so you understand, we're not going into Syria".
"That could happen, and it may not happen", he said. "It's very bad for this world", Trump told Fox Business News.
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