Russia’s deputy foreign minister, Sergei Ryabkov, on Tuesday, said that Moscow was concerned that contacts with the Donald Trump administration had not yet led to positive shifts in the relations between the two nations.
Russian news agencies quoted Ryabkov as saying that as nuclear powers Russia and the United States can not afford to keep their relations at such a low level.
Tensions between the two countries have soared over the conflict in Syria, with Russian President Vladimir Putin backing Syria’s government and the US opposing it.
On April 12, Trump also said that relations with Russia “may be at an all-time low” following Syria’s use of chemical weapons on April 4, and the US airstrike that followed.
Stopping just short of accusing Russia of complicity with the sarin gas attack against civilians April 4, Trump said it’s “certainly possible” that Russia had advance knowledge of the use of chemical weapons by its ally.
“I like to think they didn’t know. But they could have. They were there,” he said.
Trump said he had no regrets about the decision to launch 59 Tomahawk missiles at a Syrian air base two days later, saying Syrian leader Bashar Assad left him no choice by gassing innocent children. (NAN)