Searching for something positive to say about the deep divisions between Washington and Moscow, Tillerson added, “We spoke extensively about Syria, and in some areas we share a common view. Specifically, we both believe in a unified and stable Syria, and we agree we want to deny a safe haven for terrorists who want to attack both of our countries. We agree that North Korea has to be de-nuclearized. We agreed there needs to be more senior-level communication between our two countries, both at a diplomatic and military level.”

But Tillerson was unequivocal about Assad’s use of chemical weapons against his own people. “The facts that we have are conclusive that the recent chemical weapons attack carried out in Syria was planned and it was directed and executed by Syrian regime forces, and we’re quite confident of that.” To which Lavrov responded, “This subject is one we diverge on, inasmuch as Russia is insisting on an objective investigation.” Nevertheless, Russia blocked a vote in the U.N. to launch such an investigation (more on that below).

HOTLINE HOT AGAIN: The one tiny breakthrough: the Russians tacitly admitted they need the deconfliction hotline over Syria as much as the U.S. does. The communications channel has been vital not just in keeping warplanes from inadvertent conflict in the skies, but both sides have used system to call off airstrikes that have mistakenly targeted their forces on the ground.  And without the hotline, Russia could be left in the dark the next time President Trump decides to launch a surprise attack. But at the same time, Lavrov warned the U.S. not to conduct another “illegal” attack on the Assad regime.

TRUMP’S VERDICT: SUCCESS! Trump, who also noted that relations with Russia are on the skids, nevertheless pronounced Tillerson’s Moscow visit a success. “I think he had a very successful meeting in Russia. We’ll see,” Trump said at Washington news conference with the NATO secretary general. “Based on everything I’m hearing, things went pretty well, maybe better than anticipated,” adding, “It would be wonderful as we were discussing just a little while ago, if NATO and our country could get along with Russia. Right now, we’re not getting along with Russia at all. We may be at an all-time low in terms of relationship with Russia.” Well, there was that whole Cuban missile crisis thing, but that was a long time ago.

RUSSIA’S NYET: Russia has vetoed a United Nations Security Council resolution that would have required an expansive investigation of the recent use of chemical weapons in Syria. The resolution demanded “all parties [in Syria] cooperate fully” with international investigators, providing detailed instructions on the “unfettered access” that Assad’s regime would have to provide.

The Western-backed resolution was said to be too onerous for the Assad regime, according to Russian state-backed media. “The draft leaned heavily on the Syrian government in terms of demands to submit to an investigation of the incident,” explained RT, a Kremlin-run media outlet. “In the event of non-compliance with the terms, Syria could be exposed to military action mandated by the UN Security Council under Chapter VII of the UN Charter. The rebel forces controlling Khan Shaykhun were only asked to ‘provide delay-free and safe access’ to the site of the reported incident.”

WHY CHINA ABSTAINED, EXPLAINED: China’s abstention from yesterday’s UN vote to condemn the Assad regime’s chemical attack in Syria was due in part to the connection established between President Xi Jinping and Trump last week, according to a senior White House official. Echoing Trump’s own comments during a press conference earlier Wednesday, the official said China’s abstention was a “significant victory for all civilized peoples because it really showed how isolated … the Assad regime [is].”

The official declined to say whether Trump asked Xi to abstain from the vote when they spoke by phone Tuesday evening. The president’s recent bilateral summit with his Chinese counterpart likely facilitated the abstention, the official said.

Good Thursday morning and welcome to Jamie McIntyre’s Daily on Defense, compiled by Washington Examiner National Security Senior Writer Jamie McIntyre (@jamiejmcintyre), National Security Writer Travis J. Tritten (@travis_tritten) and Senior Editor David Brown (@dave_brown24). Email us here for tips, suggestions, calendar items and anything else. If a friend sent this to you and you’d like to sign up, click here. If signing up doesn’t work, shoot us an email and we’ll add you to our list. And be sure to follow us on Twitter @dailyondefense.

NATO TAKEAWAYS: There were two big takeaways from Trump’s meeting with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg at the White House yesterday.

Trump’s reversal on the alliance’s obsolescence was not the big surprise some in the media portrayed it to be. Almost as soon as candidate Trump declared NATO obsolete because the Cold War alliance was in his view not focused on terrorism, he began taking credit for NATO’s transformation. In last September’s presidential debate, Trump cited a Wall Street Journal article saying NATO has changed, and claimed that was a direct result of his public criticism. “I said they have to focus on terror, also. And they’re going to do that. And that was — believe me — I’m sure I’m not going to get credit for it — but that was largely because of what I was saying and my criticism of NATO.”

Yesterday, Stoltenberg seemed happy to let the U.S. president take credit again, even though NATO began to fight terrorism after 2001, when it sent troops to Afghanistan to help the U.S. fight al Qaeda and the Taliban. “I complained about that a long time ago and they made a change, and now they do fight terrorism. I said it was obsolete. It’s no longer obsolete,” Trump said yesterday.

Trump still doesn’t seem to understand how NATO is funded. The president once again complained that NATO nations are not paying their fair share. “If other countries pay their fair share instead of relying on the United States to make up the difference, we will all be much more secure, and our partnership will be made that much stronger.” When Stoltenberg noted that the number of NATO countries meeting the goal of spending 2 percent of their GDP on defense has gone from five to eight, Trump interjected. “And I did ask about all the money that hasn’t been paid over the years – will that money be coming back? We’ll be talking about that.”

Trump seems confused about the money in question. It’s not money that member nations pay to NATO, rather it’s money they spend on their own militaries, to ensure they have the capabilities to contribute to the alliance in the event of a crisis. In 2014, all NATO nations pledged to meet the 2 percent goal within 10 years, by 2024. And 20 percent of the money is supposed to be spent on hardware and capabilities, not just troops. There are no “back dues” to be collected, and there is no extra money paid by the U.S. “to make up the difference.” It is true that because the U.S. military can do things no other countries can do, it would play an outsized role in any future conflict. That’s what the 2 percent solution is designed to address, and countries have until 2024 to increase their defense budgets to meet the goal.

McMASTER’S NEW MISSION: Afghanistan continues to be the forgotten war, yet Trump slipped in one sentence about it in yesterday’s news conference, announcing he is dispatching national security adviser Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster to assess the situation there, and in particular the request from the top U.S. commander there, Gen. Mick Nicholson, for more troops to help the struggling Afghan army in beating back a resurgent Taliban. “I’m also sending General McMaster to Afghanistan to find out how we can make progress alongside our Afghan partners and NATO allies,” Trump said.

NORTH KOREA OPTIONS: The Trump administration is weighing sanctions it could impose on North Korea should the country continue firing missiles and testing nuclear weapons, reportedly including a possible oil embargo, banning North Korea’s national airline Air Koryo, intercepting cargo ships and punishing Chinese banks and companies currently doing business with Pyongyang. Yesterday, Trump said he’d offered China a better trade deal if they step up and put more pressure on Kim Jong Un. “And I said, the way you’re going to make a good trade deal is to help us with North Korea. Otherwise, we’re just going to go it alone.”

ABOUT THAT ARMADA: A day after Defense Secretary Jim Mattis played down the deployment of a U.S. aircraft carrier strike group to the western pacific, Tillerson said the same thing in Moscow. “I would not read anything into the Carl Vinson’s current locations,” Tillerson said. “There is no particular objective in its current course. The Vinson sails up and down the Pacific routinely.” Reports are out saying Japan is planning to send ships to join the strike group when it enters the East China Sea.

ARMY SEC NOMINEE ANSWERS CRITICS: Trump’s nominee for Army secretary responded to two civil rights groups who claimed this week he is an anti-gay and anti-transgender radical. Tennessee state Sen. Mark Green said “politics will have nothing to do” with how he will serve as the Army’s top civilian. The American Military Partner Association and the Human Rights Campaign have called out Green for legislation he supported in Tennessee and comments he made last fall to a Tea Party gathering. During the town hall, Green said most psychiatrists view transgenderism as a disease, criticized the Obama administration for pushing transgender rights on states, and suggested the state governor should stop issuing same-sex marriage licenses as a protest.

NO STOP-LOSS FOR PILOTS: The Air Force chief of staff on Wednesday appeared to contradict an earlier statement by a senior general when he said forcing airmen to remain in the service, a process called stop-loss, is not under consideration as a way to plug a 1,555-pilot shortfall. Gen. David Goldfein said the president and defense secretary are in charge of ordering any stop-loss for pilots as part of a response to a national emergency. “We are far from that point,” he said.

Earlier this week, Gen. Carlton Everhart, the commander of the service’s Air Mobility Command, told Roll Call that the stop-loss option was on the table as he, Goldfein and other senior leaders prepare to meet with commercial airline executives next month to discuss solutions to the gaping shortage, which includes over 1,200 fighter pilots. Goldfein said he is instead focusing on better incentives to attract and retain pilots in the Air Force.

CARTER PAGE’S FIRM DENIAL: Yesterday we told you about the Washington Post report that the FBI obtained a FISA warrant to monitor the communications of then-Trump adviser Carter Page during the campaign, after presenting evidence to a secret court showing probable cause Page was talking to Russian agents. Yesterday Page was questioned at length, cross-examined really, by CNN’s Jake Tapper. Asked directly by Tapper if he was acting as an agent for a foreign government, Page said “Of course I wasn’t, Jake. This is just such a joke that it’s beyond words.” Tapper has clearly done his homework, as he asked detailed questions about Page associations with Russian diplomats, and Page vigorously defended himself. The transcript of the grilling is here.

Former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort, meanwhile, revealed Wednesday that he is in the process of registering as a foreign agent with the U.S. government, in response to an Associated Press story about the money his consulting firm received from a pro-Russian political party in Ukraine. His spokesman, Jason Maloni, said Manafort has been looking to register his firm under the U.S. Foreign Agents Registration Act since before the 2016 election and stressed that he has done nothing improper.

HALEY ON RUSSIA: U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley on Wednesday warned Russia to stop “covering” for Assad in Syria or risk further “isolating” itself from the international community. “To my colleagues from Russia, you are isolating yourselves from the international community every time one of Assad’s planes drop another barrel bomb on civilians. And every time Assad tries to starve another community to death,” Haley said at the U.N. Haley said Assad’s “barbaric regime … mocked every assurance the Russians gave us that there were no chemical weapons in Syria.”

PARTITION FOR PEACE? Elliott Abrams, who missed out on the No. 2 spot at the State Department, thinks “soft partition” of Syria could be the answer to bringing the six year civil war to an end. Check out his podcast here.

MORE SUPPORT FOR SYRIA ACTION: A majority of Americans support additional U.S. military action in Syria and trust Trump most of all to find a solution to the civil war that’s left hundreds of thousands dead in the last six years. A new Morning Consult/Politico poll found 57 percent of Americans want more strikes in Syria and 56 percent support the U.S. conducting cyberattacks against Assad’s regime. The poll found 58 percent want a no-fly zone to be established in parts of Syria, which would effectively try to ground Syria’s air force from bombing its own people.

Out of all the potential people or groups to solve the conflict — Republicans in Congress, the United Nations, Turkey, Russia, Democrats and Iran — the poll showed Americans trust Trump the most to end the war, to the tune of 57 percent believing in him.

DETAILS OVER DEVIL’S FOOD: Trump told Xi about the missile strike on Syria over “the most beautiful piece of chocolate cake” during his Mar-a-Lago visit last week. Trump told Fox Business that he and Xi were eating dessert when he got the news that the missiles were in the air.

“I was sitting at the table. We had finished dinner. We’re now having dessert. And we had the most beautiful piece of chocolate cake that you’ve ever seen and President Xi was enjoying it,” Trump said. “And I was given the message from the generals that the ships are locked and loaded, what do you do? And we made a determination to do it, so the missiles were on the way.” Go here to see video of the rest of Trump’s tale.

THE RUNDOWN

Defense One: It’s too early to see a ‘Trump effect’ on NATO spending

War on the Rocks: It didn’t have to be this way: Finding leverage in Syria

Associated Press: Is Bannon in peril? Trump comments worry his populist base

Reuters: North Korea oil imports, airline among possible U.S. sanctions targets – sources

New York Times: Riddle of why Hitler didn’t use sarin gas remains unsolved

Defense News: The ground robot petting zoo: A collection of US Army robots

Wall Street Journal: Former Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad launches presidential bid

DoD Buzz: Air Force opts to keep F-16s flying for decades longer

Defense Tech: Video: Lockheed’s Sikorsky touts coaxial attack helo concept

Calendar

THURSDAY | APRIL 13

7:30 a.m. 1401 Lee Highway. Gen. Paul Selva, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, speaks at an association breakfast. afa.org

8:30 a.m. 1777 F St. NW. A series of morning panels on the origins of modern Russia in the collapse of the Soviet Union, current trends in the country today and the future of foreign policy toward Moscow. cfr.org

12:30 p.m. 1030 15th St. NW, 12th Floor. Former Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James Conway and a panel discuss advanced energy innovation and national security. atlanticcouncil.org

3:30 p.m. 1616 Rhode Island Ave. NW. CIA Director Mike Pompeo discusses national security. csis.org

3:30 p.m. 1300 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. Book launch for Konrad Wolf’s But I Saw It Myself, This is the War: War Diary and Letters, 1942-1945. wilsoncenter.org

MONDAY | APRIL 17

10 a.m. 1616 Rhode Island Ave. NW. Sergey Denisentsev, a senior research fellow at the Center for the Analysis of Strategies and Technologies, discusses Russia’s arms exports. csis.org

TUESDAY | APRIL 18

7 a.m. 7525 Colshire Drive. The beginning of a three-day annual summit on systems engineering cyber-resilient and secure weapon systems. ndia.org

7 a.m. 300 5th Ave. SW. The National Defense Industrial Association kicks off its three-day science and engineering technology conference. ndia.org

6:30 p.m. 529 14th St. NW. A premiere screening of Danger Close film and Q&A with war reporter Alex Quade. press.org

WEDNESDAY | APRIL 19

5 p.m. 1000 Massachusetts Ave. NW. How scholars can affect Trump’s foreign policy with Steven Weber, director of Bridging the Gap; Matt Kroenig, associate professor at Georgetown University; Ryan Evans, editor-in-chief of War on the Rocks; Mira Rapp Hooper, a senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security; and Sameer Lalwani, a senior associate at the Stimson Center. cato.org

9 a.m. 1211 Connecticut Ave. NW. The difficult road toward stabilizing Iraq and the Gulf region. stimson.org

THURSDAY | APRIL 20

9:30 a.m. 1616 Rhode Island Ave., NW. Italian Prime Minister H.E. Paolo Gentiloni discusses security in the Mediterranean as a cornerstone of global stability and the common engagement of Italy and the United States. csis.org

10 a.m. 214 Massachusetts Ave. NE. Experts discuss next steps in dealing with the South China Sea, a regional flashpoint. heritage.org

3 p.m. 1300 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. The provincialism and internationalism of an America First policy in U.S. foreign relations. wilsoncenter.org