Tillerson concedes Russia ties are sour, but holds out hope

Carlos Barria | Reuters

President Donald Trump meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin during their bilateral meeting at the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany July 7, 2017.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson says neither he nor President Donald Trump is “very happy” about new sanctions on Russia that Congress has voted to put in place.

But he says the sanctions show that Americans are frustrated by Moscow, even though they want the U.S. to have a functional relationship with the nuclear-armed power.

Tillerson is lamenting the sour state of relations with Russia more than half a year into Trump’s term. He says they’ve gotten worse and is pointing to Russia’s move to kick out many U.S. diplomats serving in Russia.

Still, Tillerson says the U.S. has had some successes working with Russia on lowering violence in Syria.

Tillerson says he’ll meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov during his trip to the Philippines starting Sunday.