U.S. strikes in Syria are a turning point for the world

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson says U.S. - Russian Federation ties are at a "low point" and stressed that the world's two major nuclear powers "cannot have this kind of relationship".

Any hope in Russian Federation that the Trump administration would herald less confrontational relations has been dashed in the past week after the new USA leader fired missiles at Syria to punish Moscow's ally for its suspected use of poison gas.

The Tillerson-Putin meeting follows a tense three-hour meeting Wednesday between Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Tillerson, in which Lavrov appeared to warn Tillerson not to conduct future strikes on Syria.

Putin shot back that the charge was fabricated and accused the administration of President Donald Trump, who US intelligence agencies believe benefited from Russian cyberattacks meant to embarrass his Democratic rival during the election campaign, of fabricating the evidence to create a fake confrontation.

The civil war is separate from the USA -led effort against the Islamic State group in the north of the country. "No", Trump said. But, he added, "I see them using gas. we have to do something".

"Let us use this moment of crisis - and it is a moment of crisis - as a watershed and an opportunity perhaps for a new level of seriousness in the search for a political solution", he said.

But such hopes appeared optimistic as the diplomats outlined their sharply diverging views on Syria. "President Trump's unilateral decision to launch 59 Tomahawk missiles at another country's military-which had not attacked the USA -was unconstitutional".

"In 2013, Assad used chemical weapons in Syria".

"I think the. longer term status of President Assad will be decided by the Syrian people", he said.

On Wednesday, Putin said U.S.

Until the chemical attack, the Trump administration had sought to step back from the United States position that Assad should leave power.

The news conference came after Russian President Vladimir Putin met the top American diplomat for nearly two hours to see if they could rescue relations between the world's mightiest military powers.

Haley's statement was the first clear indication that the new USA administration was taking diplomatic efforts seriously to end the war after repeatedly stating that fighting the Islamic State was its priority in Syria.

Tillerson said Syria's government had committed more than 50 attacks using chlorine or other chemical weapons over the duration of the conflict.

Russia's deputy United Nations ambassador says the US "provocation" by attacking a Syrian air base will only encourage those who want a military solution to the six-year Syrian conflict. And he suggested that possible war crimes charges could be levied against the Syrian leader.

On Syria, Tillerson delivered what sounded much like an ultimatum to the Russians on Tuesday while talking to reporters at a Group of 7 meeting in Italy.

"Our strategy can not presume to separate the fight against ISIL from the Syrian people's fight against the Assad regime", they wrote, using another acronym for the self-proclaimed Islamic State group.

While most immediate, U.S.

Trump, who last week ordered airstrikes on a Syrian air base in retaliation for a chemical weapons attack, was asked Wednesday if Syria could have launched the attack without Russia's knowledge.

Sergey Lavrov, Russia's foreign minister, said Russia had lots of questions about the Trump administration's "very ambiguous" and "contradictory" ideas. But in a Fox Business Network interview, the USA president said he wouldn't intervene militarily against Assad unless the Syrian leader resorts to using weapons of mass destruction again.

During his long campaign for the White House, Trump praised Putin as a strong leader, but on Wednesday told an interviewer that in the six-year Syrian conflict, "Frankly, Putin is backing a person that's truly an evil person", referring to Assad. "Are we going to get involved with Syria?"