Russian President Vladimir Putin was meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson at the Kremlin in Moscow on Wednesday, ending days of uncertainty over whether they would get together during Tillerson's visit.
The meeting, announced by Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, comes hours after Tillerson faced his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov in a tense encounter.
Putin's decision to host Tillerson signaled Moscow's intent to maintain communication with the U.S. even as they bash each other publicly in louder and louder tones.
According to a text message from Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov, Lavrov was also involved in the meeting with Putin, CNN reported.
Leaving traveling U.S. reporters across town, Tillerson met Putin in the Kremlin for almost two hours following his discussions with Lavrov.
The chief dispute concerned the Syrian government or opposition's culpability for a chemical weapons attack that killed more than 80 people in Syria last week, though broader disagreements over everything from Ukraine to Russia's support for once-fringe candidates in European elections are among other sore points between the former Cold War foes.
Russia's top diplomat accused the United States of carrying out an unlawful attack against Syrian President Bashar Assad's forces. Giving Tillerson a chilly reception, Lavrov said Russia was trying to understand the "real intentions" of the Trump administration.
Moscow remains angry because of last week's U.S. airstrikes against a Syrian airstrip in reaction to a deadly chemical attack earlier in the week.
The State Department did not immediately confirmthe Putin-Tillerson meeting, but the department from the beginning had expected Tillerson and Putin to sit down, as the Russian leader typically meets with U.S. secretaries of State.
The New York Times and Russian RT.com also both confirmed the meeting, quoting Dmitry Peskov.
The meeting marked the first time Putin has met with a top Trump administration official, notes the Times, and came despite reports that relations had become tense between Russia and the United States following the Syrian airstrikes.
Trump's White House has accused Putin of covering up evidence President Bashar al-Assad was responsible for launching deadly sarin gas attacks on his own people, for a base where Russian troops had been stationed.
Putin accused the Trump administration, in turn, of fabricating the evidence in the attacks to create a confrontation, and saying the U.S. accusations reminded him of the events of 2003, when Security Council representatives claimed chemical weapons were discovered in Iraq.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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