The first meeting between Tillerson and Lavrov in Moscow

So let us summarize the results of the meeting between #Tillerson and #Lavrov in #Moscow, on the basis of the press conference after their meeting. 1) As I predicted, both sides publicly remained firm in their views, without making any specific promises. That means that some behind-the-scenes agreements have been reached. Additional evidence of this is the previously unscheduled meeting between Tillerson and Putin, which could only have taken place after it had become clear that the U.S. Secretary of State and the Russian President both have substantive things to discuss.

1. It is curious to note Lavrov’s statement that within the US there are forces that are making attempts to prevent cooperation between the two countries. Basically, Russia stood up for Trump, who is under attack from American media, Democrats, and his own Republican party. Moscow has shown that it is ready to work specifically with "#Trump the Peacemaker.” Moreover, those who promote Trump's possible impeachment and try to incline Trump to become a real war hawk should think about the future. In response, Tillerson said that the two nuclear powers must not find themselves in the present state of relations they are in today. The key word here is “nuclear”. Tillerson gave a clear message to the war hawks in the USA and around the world, and also to the American people, that the situation has again come to a Cold War, when people were afraid to sleep at night, not knowing if a nuclear war would commence the next day. Do we want this to be repeated?
2. On Syria, the public position of the US has not changed: The missile strike on Assad was the correct decision, because chemical weapons were used by the Syrian government. The respective position of Russia is that the existence of chemical weapons has not been proved; the missile strike was precipitous; and it is impossible to understand why there haven't been any missile strikes on the Al-Nusra Front which is fighting against Assad. At the same time, it is important to note two key points regarding Syria:

a) Tillerson said that the US does not possess evidence of any involvement by Russia in the chemical weapons attack; and
b) Tillerson's position is that Assad should depart via democratic means. Lavrov’s position is that Russia is not tied to any particular personage in Syria.

In other words, this is the first key point in the behind-the-scenes agreements: Russia takes on the responsibility to remove Assad with the help of elections in order for Trump to portray it in the US as a victory.