Putin, whom USA intelligence agencies say tried to help Trump get elected, insisted that relations with the US had only gone downhill since Trump took office in January.
Many Americans and people around the world followed with great concern the off-the-cuff and zany ideas Donald Trump voiced during the presidential campaign and more ominously after becoming President. "Russia is on an island when it comes to its support of Syria or its lack of, frankly, acknowledgement of what happened", he told reporters.
What is wrong with such a disastrous decision?
And while viewing the airbase strike as decisive, most commentators are not seeing a radical change in the USA approach to Syria.
Putin's government has been incensed by the Trump administration's public accusations, and even more so by USA military intervention in Syria.
A key focus since the chemical attack has been on increasing pressure on Russia, Assad's strongest ally, which has used its own military to keep Assad in power.
But then came the chemical attack in Khan Sheikhoun, which prompted Trump - who had hitherto shown no inclination to get involved in worldwide conflicts - to launch a missile bombardment on a Syrian airbase less than three days later.
Col. Gen. Sergei Rudskoy of the Russian General Staff said in televised remarks that Russia will provide security for worldwide inspectors seeking to examine Syrian bases, and that Damascus has agreed to allow the inspections. They affirm that Syria does not possess any chemical weapons after its 2003 agreement to dispose of all such hazardous materials.
The fallout over the chemical attack follows comments by the Trump administration and Russian Federation that a reset in relations between the countries was possible after decades of hostility.
Trump inclined to rule out deeper US intervention in Syria
But he also appeared to rule out deeper involvement, saying: "Are we going to get involved with Syria? No". Russian Federation and the United States disagree over Assad's fate.
Turkey's health minister said Tuesday that test results confirm sarin gas was used in an attack on a northern Syrian town earlier this month and the Russian military said the Syrian government is willing to let worldwide experts examine its military base for signs of chemical weapons. He can order more military action, with the danger of an escalating America involvement in a war that has killed hundreds of thousands of people.
Where does the USA stand on Syria now?
In Tuesday's briefing, several officials laid out the case that military forces controlled by Syria's dictator, Bashar al-Assad, used sarin gas in the attacks and that the Russian government has worked to obfuscate the narrative to deflect blame away from its ally.
Trump denied further plans in Syria.
The two top diplomats had sat down together earlier in the day to work through the fallout of a chemical attack in northwestern Syria last week that plunged the old Cold War enemies to a new low. Trump did not seem to care about "beautiful little Syrian babies" back then, as he is claiming now!
"How is it possible that their forces were co-located with the Syrian forces that planned, prepared and carried out this chemical weapons attack at the same installation and did not have foreknowledge?" said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The Trump administration's change of heart, apparently spurred in part by the president's emotional response to the images of chemical weapons victims, also is serving another goal: defanging the perception of coziness between Trump and Moscow. Global law, by definition, is an issue touching all countries, not just the United States. Russian Federation has called for an global investigation of the incident. Furthermore, attacking a sovereign nation is itself a violation of worldwide law!
Mr Trump's action has been fiercely condemned by Mr Assad, as well as his Russian and Iranian supporters. This Syrian was among the many protesting against Obama getting involved. What they need is painstaking diplomatic effort to find a peaceful resolution of the conflict. Russia's alleged meddling in the USA presidential election also hovered over the first face-to-face encounter between Putin and a Trump administration Cabinet member.
Others argued for a more conciliatory approach. "But if I see them using gas.we have to do something".
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