Though the Kremlin had declined to say whether the leaders would meet, Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Wednesday: "There is a certain likelihood".
The attack led the Trump administration to harden its attitude against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad weeks after top USA officials said they were more concerned with defeating Daesh militants than getting Assad out of power.
"I am not going to go into intelligence that I have or have not seen. No", Trump said in the interview, which aired Wednesday in the U.S.
Italian foreign minister Angelino Alfano told the closing news conference: "We must have a dialogue with Russian Federation and we must not push Russian Federation into a corner".
President Donald Trump is trying to clear up his administration's message on next steps for Syria after he ordered a missile strike against an airbase in the country last week. "Tillerson explicitly said they are seeking a nonviolent, nonmilitary way", he said, praising Tillerson for taking "a very realistic and clear stance".
Lavrov still said that Tillerson's visit to Moscow is important from the perspective of creating a broad anti-terrorist front.
But Tillerson said the distinction "doesn't much matter to the dead".
Vladimir Putin went further, comparing America's accusations of a chemical attack in Syria to its justification of the Iraq invasion.
"We have information from a variety of sources that such provocations. are being prepared in other parts of Syria, including in southern suburbs of Damascus", Putin said Tuesday during a news conference with Italian President Sergio Mattarella. "We want to relieve the suffering of the Syrian people", he told reporters in Lucca, Italy, after a meeting with the G7 foreign ministers where ways of resolving the Syrian crisis were discussed. "We consider it of utmost importance to prevent the risks of replay of similar action in the future".
Syria, Iran, and Russian Federation issued a joint statement condemning the strikes, reports Iran's semi-official Fars News Agency.
Charlie Murphy's Family Releases Statement After His Passing
Always made me laugh. "Keep his family in your thoughts and in your prayers and keep a space for Charlie in you're heart". Murphy, a longtime Englewood resident, died Wednesday in NY of leukemia, according to his representative, Domenick Nati.
At a White House press briefing on Tuesday, press secretary Sean Spicer said Russian Federation was "isolated" in its support for Syria.
NPR's Lucian Kim reports that the unfolding drama surrounding the attack and its aftermath has soured Tillerson's visit, which had once borne great expectations from USA and Russian diplomats.
Until the chemical attack, the Trump administration had sought to step back from the United States position that Assad should leave power.
Western countries blame President Assad for the gas attack, and Trump responded by firing cruise missiles at a Syrian air base.
The foreign ministry statement said Russian Federation hoped to learn Trump's strategy on a number of foreign policy problems.
The Russian leader was responding to a question on the likelihood of further USA military strikes against Syria, following Friday's firing of 59 Tomahawk missiles against the Shayrat airfield.
But Mr Tillerson repeated the administration's new belief that "the reign of the Assad family is coming to an end".
However, Freeland said her G7 colleagues agreed that "Assad can not remain in power in Syria".
"Stockpiles and continued use demonstrate that Russian Federation has failed in its ability to deliver on its 2013 commitment [to help get rid of Assad's chemical weapons]".
Earlier in the day, Mr Putin said trust had eroded between the United States and Russian Federation under Mr Trump, as Moscow delivered an unusually hostile reception to Mr Tillerson.
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