US-Russia Ties 'Worsened' Under Trump Presidency, Putin Says Amid Possibility Of Tillerson Meeting

The relations between the U.S. and Russia have strained further in the aftermath of President Donald Trump's decision to launch Tomahawk missiles into a Syrian base last week. Russian President Vladimir Putin has pointed that U.S.-Russia relations have "worsened" under Trump, AFP tweeted.

Amid the growing diplomatic drift between the two nations over military conflict in Syria, speculations were rife that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will not be meeting with Putin during a scheduled visit to Moscow, Wednesday. However, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in a conference call with reporters that Putin may meet Tillerson later that day. "There is a certain possibility," the meeting will take place, Peskov said, if Tillerson and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, who met Wednesday morning, think that Putin must be briefed on the discussions, Reuters reported.

Read: Will Russia Side With US Or Iran After Tillerson's Ultimatum?

According to RT, as the discussions between Tillerson and Lavrov began, Lavrov made it clear that it is important to avoid more airstrikes on Syria and also said that Russia favors a joint action to solve the crisis. He also said Moscow has reiterated its desire for a constructive dialogue with the U.S. on the Syrian crisis.

Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs had stated earlier Wednesday that Lavrov will discuss with Tillerson about the possibility of no-fly zones in Syria. Earlier this month, Turkey had suggested establishing no-fly and safe zones in the war hit country.

Russia has been critical of the U.S.' attack on Syria but Lavrov feels that the meeting with Tillerson is important for both the nations to create a broad anti-terrorist front in Syria. Lavrov said: “It [the visit] provides an opportunity, as President [Vladimir] Putin and President [Donald] Trump agreed, to frankly and honestly try to clarify the prospects of our cooperation on all the issues, and first of all, the formation of a broad anti-terrorist front, according to RT.