Yesterday, the US secretary of state Rex Tillerson concluded a very crucial meeting with Russia, which probably was the toughest of meetings in his career. The meeting came amid heightened tensions between the two global superpowers after the United States launched a unilateral missile attack on Syria in response to the alleged chemical attack by the Syrian government on April 7th. Most of the media reports suggest the welcome from the Russian side to Tillerson was frosty, which was not at all surprising given the current situation. While the US President Trump said that Russia is on the wrong side by siding with Assad, the Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the US-Russia relations have deteriorated under Trump. However, President Putin granted an audience to the US secretary of state after he held four hours of meeting with Sergei Lavrov. While most parts of the conversations were confidential and behind closed doors, we would try to present parts that were available to the public for clarity on the US-Russia relationship.

Here are the key remarks from pre-meeting conference,

• Sergei Lavrov opened up the meeting.
• He said that during the meeting on February 16th, he clarified the Russian positions on the US-Russia relations as well as its international stance. He stressed that over the past months contradictory and different views came from Washington over the concerning matters. He called the ideas contradictory and ambiguous. Talked about troubling actions on Syria. He says that both sides had talked and the Russian President has expressed his evaluation of the events. He warns that it is fundamentally important that these actions do not happen in the future. Commanded Tillerson on his timely visit to Moscow as it provides opportunities to discuss future outlook in a frank and honest conversation. He said that Moscow has reiterated multiple times that Russia is prepared for a constructive, equal footing and good dialogues with considerations for Russia’s legitimate interest. This is Russia’s consistent policy in line with international law and not influenced by the current situation, complicated choices, wrong choices whether the US is with Russia or against Russia.  Mr. Lavrov stresses that Russia believes in collective response and doesn’t think that it is effective to have closed door alliances. Russia has sent its messages to Washington and to Secretary Tillerson multiple times. Mr. Lavrov said that it is important to understand the intentions of the US and the real intentions of this administration. He finally said ‘Welcome’ to the Mr. Tillerson.

It is clear from the comments that Russia is totally annoyed not only last week’s missile strikes by the United States but confusing messages coming from Washington. For example, the US President Trump said in an interview after the Syrian attack that he doesn’t want to get into Syria. So, it is clear that at this meeting Russia would be looking for actual and factual clarity on Washington’s stance towards Syria and US-Russia relations. It is also important to note that Russia has yet not given up on the Trump administration.