It was not long ago the United States and Russian governments were considered to have a very cosy relationship.
But now, US president Donald Trump says a damaging split has emerged between him and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin.
"Right now, we are not getting along with Russia at all. We may be at an all-time low, in terms of our relationship with Russia. It would be a fantastic thing if we got along with Putin and if we got along with Russia, and that could happen and it may not happen. It may be just the opposite."
It was a view echoed by United States secretary of state Rex Tillerson after lengthy meetings with the Russian president and with foreign minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow.
"The current state of US-Russia relations is at a low point, and there is a low level of trust between our two countries. The world's two foremost nuclear powers cannot have this kind of relationship. We understand that improvement in the long-term relationship will be required if we are to make progress on issues where we have different views."
And one of those divisive issues is Syria.
Last week's retaliatory strike by the United States has antagonised Russia.
It maintains there is no evidence the Syrian government of president Bashar al-Assad was involved in a suspected chemical-weapons attack that killed scores of civilians.
Rex Tillerson says he has no doubt about who planned it.
"And it was directed and executed by Syrian regime forces, and we're quite confident of that. This is just the latest in a series of the use of chemical weapons by the Assad regime -- and notwithstanding their use on more than 50 occasions of chlorine bombs and cluster bombs and other types of weapons that are intended to maim and kill in the most horrific ways."
Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov says he wants an independent investigation into the chemical attack and the US military response.
He says the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, OPCW, has been contacted.
"There needs to be a thorough investigation into this incident, which has become the subject of many speculations. There's been an official letter by the Syrian government to the United Nations and to the OPCW with a request to dispatch as soon as possible a group of experts in order to conduct an unbiased and frank investigation, both in Idlib as well as at the airport, airbase, that was struck."
And while there was some diplomatic language between the two countries in Moscow, the tense relationship was clearly on show at the United Nations in New York.
Deputy Russian UN ambassador Vladimir Safrankov accused US ambassador and Security Council president Nikki Haley of letting members insult his country.
"Madame President, I would ask you make sure that the rules of procedure of this meeting are respected. You're doing everything to make sure that this kind of cooperation be undermined. This is precisely why ... Look at me when I'm speaking, don't look away."
But Nikki Haley warned Russia it is isolating itself from the international community by backing the Syrian government.
"Every time one of Assad's planes drops another barrel bomb on civilians, and every time Assad tries to starve another community to death, people not just in the West but across the Middle East and the world are speaking out against Assad's brutality. It is long past time for Russia to stop covering for Assad. It is long past time for Russia to push seriously for peace and not continue to be part of the problem."
Syria's United Nations ambassador, Bashar Ja'afari, denies his government had any involvement in the chemical attack.
"How can a sane and reasonable person accept the lies and the accusations against my country Syria, accusations of the use of a chemical weapon that we do not even possess?"
Russia has again used its veto to block a UN Security Council resolution condemning the gas attack.
China abstained from the vote.
