Following Secretary of State #Rex Tillerson's meeting with #Moscow on Tuesday, there is much talk in the air of false narratives and hidden agendas between the two sides in the Syria issue: Russia and the United States.

Tillerson on Tuesday repeated the United State's belief that #President Bashar al-Assad of #Syria, and one of Russia’s most important Middle East allies, was accountable for the chemical weapons attack that played out to devastating effect in northern Syria on April 4 that saw 80-plus people dead, landed hundreds in hospital and also outraged the rest of the world, including President Trump.

What Russia claims is the truth

Russia's Foreign Minster #Sergey Lavrov, however, represented the #Russian view that the facts and figures relating to the chemical weapons attack were unclear and needed to be fully determined. Further, Lavrov disparaged and denounced what he called the “media hysteria” surrounding the attack and said that the #Russians are condemning the false narrative created by the United States of America.

To even further complicate and destabilize the #Syrian issue, Russia on Wednesday vetoed a resolution at the #United Nations Security Council condemning the chemical weapons attack. It was a resolution that was praised and supported by the western powers.