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Kremlin: Putin outlined causes of worsening Russia-US ties at meeting with Tillerson

It is early to speak about a shift in the Russia-US relations after a meeting between Putin and Tillerson, the Kremlin spokesman said

MOSCOW, April 13. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke about the reasons behind the deterioration of Russian-US relations and also the prospects of Syrian settlement at the meeting with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in Moscow on Wednesday, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

"President (Putin) gave a rather detailed account to his interlocutor (Tillerson) on his stance on the reasons that have led our bilateral relations to such a sad condition in which they are now," Peskov said.

Peskov noted that Putin just made an analysis of the situation and the Kremlin expects that this information will be brought to the notice of US President Donald Trump. "The president shared his analysis and his vision of precursors of the current crisis in bilateral relations," Peskov said.

"This makes it clear what, according to our view, had brought us to such a bilateral deadlock over the past several years," he added.

At the meeting, the sides had a rather "substantive" discussion on the Syrian crisis. "The president outlined our vision of the current situation and the prospects of developing this situation," he said.

It is early to speak about a shift in the Russia-US relations after a meeting between Putin and Tillerson but the talk was constructive, Peskov said.

In response to a question about whether it was possible to speak about a shift in the relations between the two countries following the results of the meeting, the Kremlin spokesman said: "No, it can’t [be said so]. It is early so far."

Putin and Tillerson didn’t raise the issue of the Russian leader’s meeting with US President Donald Trump, according to Peskov.

"No," the spokesman said in reply to a question about whether such a prospect had been discussed at a meeting in the Kremlin on Wednesday.

Peskov also said that Putin did not discuss the Ukrainian crisis in detail at a meeting with Tillerson.

"There was no detailed discussion of Ukraine," Peskov said.

The Ukrainian issue was on the agenda of Tillerson’s talks with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, in Moscow on Wednesday.

Lavrov said after the talks that Moscow and Washington agree the Minsk agreements on the Ukrainian conflict settlement should be implemented. He also said the two countries will continue bilateral contacts on this issue