US relations with Russia at 'all time low', says Donald Trump

Mr Tillerson said the world's 'foremost nuclear powers' need to improve ties Credit: APTN

Donald Trump has described US relations with Russia as at an "all time low", echoing comments made earlier by his secretary of state.

The US president's comments come in the wake of tensions with Moscow over a US air strike on a Syrian airbase which was mounted in response to a chemical attack on a Syrian village.

"Right now we're not getting along with Russia at all," Mr Trump said in a joint media conference with Nato secretary general Jens Stoltenberg.

"We may be at an all time low in terms of [our] relationship with Russia. This has built for a long period of time."

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, in Moscow for talks with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, made a similar observation earlier, saying there was a "low level of trust" between the two nations.

Mr Tillerson comments follow a frosty meeting with Mr Lavrov and a later meeting with Russian president Vladimir Putin.

Speaking at a joint press conference with Mr Lavrov, Mr Tillerson said: "There is a low level of trust between our countries. The world's two foremost nuclear powers cannot have this kind of relationship."

But he said there were points of agreement, specifically on the need to fight terrorism and work towards "a unified and stable Syria".

Mr Tillerson's trip to Moscow comes a week after a chemical attack on a village in northern Syria, which has been widely blamed on the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, a Russian ally.

Moscow's support for Mr Assad is seen as a major sticking point for Russia-US relations - the US favours Mr Assad leaving power, something Russia says would only benefit the so-called Islamic State terror group.

For his part, Russia's Mr Lavrov said his talks with Mr Tillerson had been "substantial, frank, open", and welcomed the "readiness of our US colleagues" to support a UN investigation into the Syria gas attack.

That comment was later disputed by the US, with Mr Tillerson's spokesman RC Hammond said that "no agreement was reached" on a probe.

At the UN, Russia vetoed a Western-drafted resolution condemning the use of chemical weapons in Syria.

Boris Johnson, Britain's foreign secretary, said the move "puts Russia on the wrong side of the argument".

But Russia disputes that the Syrian government was behind the attack, a position Mr Lavrov confirmed in his media conference with Mr Tillerson.

The Russian foreign minister said that Russia had "no intention" of shielding whoever was behind the attack, but there remains substantial open ground between the two countries' positions, compounded by accusations of Russian interference in the US election and disagreements over Ukraine.

Ahead of the joint media conference, Mr Tillerson met President Putin.

It had been far form clear whether in the current climate he would get to meet the Russian leader, especially after Mr Putin commented earlier to Russian media that the "level of trust" between the two nations had "most likely has degraded" under US President Donald Trump.