US ties worse under Trump, says Putin
Rex Tillerson says his meeting with Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov was to narrow 'areas of sharp difference'
Moscow — Russian President Vladimir Putin said ties with the US had deteriorated under the administration of President Donald Trump as their top diplomats locked horns on Wednesday over the Syrian conflict. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson met his Russian counterpart, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, in Moscow in what he said was an attempt to narrow "areas of sharp difference". The powers are at odds over the fate of Moscow’s longtime ally President Bashar al-Assad, a rift worsened after an alleged Syrian chemical attack last week that triggered a punitive US missile strike. As the men entered a day of tense talks, Putin admitted relations between Washington and Moscow had worsened in the three months Trump has been in office. "You can say that the level of trust on a working level, especially on the military side, has not improved but most likely worsened," Putin said in the transcript of an interview with Mir television released by the Kremlin. Tillerson said he wanted "a very op...
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