Tillerson meets top Russian diplomat after new US sanctions

Josh Lederman(Associated Press)

August 6, 2017 - 11:17am

In this July 21, 2017 photo, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson speaks to the media while meeting with Oman's Foreign Minister Yusuf bin Alawi bin Abdullah at the State Department in Washington. Bolstered by new U.N. sanctions, the United States and North Korea's neighbors are joining in a fresh attempt to isolate Pyongyang over its nuclear and missile programs, in a global pressure campaign being cheered on by President Donald Trump. Tillerson, in Manila for the ASEAN summit, planned several meetings with top diplomats from China and other countries central to the debate about how to stop the North's weapons development. As he sat down with South Korea's envoy, Tillerson said they planned to discuss next steps to ramp up pressure following the U.N. sanctions. AP/Jacquelyn Martin, File

MANILA, Philippines — The top American and Russian diplomats are meeting for the first time since President Donald Trump reluctantly signed into law a package of new sanctions targeting Moscow.

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov (sir-GAY' lahv-RAWF') are sitting down in Manila, Philippines, on the sidelines of a regional gathering. The two diplomats smiled and exchanged pleasantries but made no substantive remarks as journalists were allowed in briefly for the start of their meeting.

Tillerson and Lavrov ignored a shouted question about how the new sanctions might affect their discussions.

Trump and Tillerson opposed the sanctions package that Congress passed to make it harder for Trump to ever ease penalties on Russia. Trump ultimately signed the bill last week, but called it "seriously flawed."

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