Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will travel to Moscow on Tuesday, and the visit is highly unlikely to be the love-in that some predicted in the Trump administration's earlier days. Tillerson talked tough on Russia in interviews Sunday, calling for the country to end its support of Syria's Bashar al-Assad or face the consequences, the New York Times reports. He called Moscow "incompetent" for failing to hold up its end of a deal to rid Syria of chemical weapons, and accused Russia of interfering in European—but not American—elections. He said, however, that there was no change to US "military posture" in Syria, and the fight against ISIS will still come first. In other developments:
- Tillerson's remarks to the media made it clear that the Russian relationship with Syria will be a main focus of talks, the Washington Post reports. "I hope Russia is thinking carefully about its continued alliance with Bashar al-Assad, because every time one of these horrific attacks occurs, it draws Russia closer into some level of responsibility," he said on ABC's This Week.