Tillerson, Lavrov begin tense meeting in Moscow

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson began a tense meeting with his Russian counterpart today, acknowledging the two countries have “sharp differences.” Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov gave Tillerson a chilly reception, saying his country wanted an explanation for the “very ambiguous” and “contradictory” ideas coming from Washington. A month ago, such tension seemed unthinkable as critics warned Trump administration officials—including Tillerson—had too much affinity for Russia to represent U.S. interests. But that all changed after last week’s airstrike in Syria. Despite Russia’s indignation over the attack on a Syrian airbase, U.S. President Donald Trump said he had to do something in response to Syria’s use of chemical weapons. During an interview that aired on Fox Business this morning, Trump called Syrian President Bashar Assad “an animal” and said Putin’s continued support for his regime was “bad for Russia” and “bad for mankind.” U.S. intelligence officials now say Russia knew about the sarin gas attack in advance.