TILLERSON AT THE TABLE: Secretary of State Rex Tillerson could be seen on television images this morning from Moscow sitting across a long table facing off with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, each side flanked by their staffs. Tense is the word most news accounts are using to describe the talks. CNN reported the meeting began with Lavrov warning the U.S. not to strike the Syria again. Speaking through an interpreter, Lavrov said Russia “saw some very troubling actions regarding the attack on Syria. … We believe it is fundamentally important not to let these actions happen again.”

In an interview broadcast today by the Russian state television channel Mir, President Vladimir Putin said, “It can be said that the level of trust at the working level, especially at the military level, has not become better but most likely has degraded,” adding that he believes Syria has complied with an agreement to dispose of it chemical weapons “so far as we know.”