Putin meets with Rex Tillerson in Russia amid escalating tensions over Syria

Vladimir Putin met with US secretary of state Rex Tillerson in Moscow on Wednesday, in what was thought to be the first meeting between the Russian president and a Trump cabinet official.

Tillerson went to the Kremlin in the early evening local time to meet the Russian president, the US embassy and the Kremlin said.

Though Donald Trump has spoken with Putin by phone, the meeting was believed to be the first between Putin and a top member of Trump’s administration since the new US president took office in January.

The agenda for the meeting wasn’t announced. The two were expected to discuss their dispute over whether Syrian president Bashar al-Assad or his opposition was responsible for a chemical weapons attack last week that led to US retaliatory cruise missiles. Conflicts over Russia’s actions in Ukraine and Russia’s alleged interference in the US presidential campaign were also likely topics.

A huge red carpet was rolled out on the tarmac of the Moscow airport where Tillerson’s plane touched down, but it was unlikely Russia would similarly welcome his calls for it to stop backing Assad.

While the US secretary of state’s decision to skip a Nato summit and visit Moscow initially seemed to highlight the White House’s desire for better relations with Russia, expectations shifted after Donald Trump launched cruise missile strikes on a Syrian airbase last week, a move condemned by the Kremlin.

The days when Russian politicians talked about better relations and state television trumpeted Trump as a “real man” were clearly over.

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