SYRIAN CONFLICT
Tillerson and Lavrov meet in Moscow as US blasts Russia about Syria
Russia is resolute about rebels using sarin gas, not Assad, and that the US is using faulty intelligence as it did to justify its 2003 invasion of Iraq
Moscow — US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov began talks in Moscow amid heightened tensions after the Trump administration accused the Kremlin of trying to cover up a chemical-weapons attack by its Syrian ally Bashar al-Assad. With the Kremlin still not saying whether President Vladimir Putin will meet Tillerson, the top US diplomat’s first visit to Russia since Donald Trump’s election began on Wednesday with a handshake and a demand from Lavrov for clarity on their relationship and the direction of US foreign policy. "Over the past few months, we heard a lot of things from Washington regarding the current state and outlook for these relations," Lavrov told Tillerson. "I will be frank and say that we have a lot of questions regarding the very ambiguous and contradictory ideas on a whole range of bilateral and international issues." The meeting comes "at an important moment in the relationship so that we can further clarify areas of common o...
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