April 12 was an intense day in Moscow for US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. After a three-hour talk with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, instead of holding a scheduled press conference, Tillerson was invited to the Kremlin to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Days before Tillerson's visit to Russia there were conflicting reports about whether the meeting with the Russian president had been removed from Tillerson’s agenda or if it had ever been on the schedule at all. Veteran observers of Russia recognized this as merely one of Putin’s usual antics to establish that he’s calling the shots. In reality, Putin has met all US secretaries of state on their first visits to Moscow.

After a two-hour conversation with Putin, Tillerson and Lavrov held an hourlong press conference. An experienced diplomat, Lavrov seemed comfortable on his home turf going through the issues discussed, praising modest achievements and expressing hope that the remaining disagreements would be tackled constructively by both sides.

Tillerson was picking his words more carefully. He lamented “the low level of trust between the two countries” and the current state of the relationship between “the two foremost nuclear powers.”