Tillerson faces tough talks in Moscow amid increased tensions

Washington

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson's visit to Moscow this week will be an early test of whether the Trump administration can use any momentum generated by a missile attack on a Syrian air base to craft and execute a strategy to end the Syrian war.

Even before US President Donald Trump ordered last week's strike in retaliation for a nerve gas attack, Mr Tillerson's visit was certain to be dominated by thorny issues, including Russian interference in the 2016 US election, an apparent violation of an important arms control treaty, and seeing what cooperation, if any, is possible in the fight against Islamic State.

Now, Mr Tillerson, a former oil executive with no diplomatic experience, is charged with avoiding a major US confrontation with Russia while exacting some concessions from Moscow. Those include getting rid of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's remai…