Tillerson opens up about meeting with Putin as US state secretary

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has spoken about his April 2017 meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in an interview with CBS.

According to him, the meeting was different from the contacts he had with the Russian leader as Exxon CEO.

"It was different," he said, adding "the only thing I said to him was ‘Mr. President, same man, different hat’."

"The dynamic changed because the issues were different," Tillerson went on to say.

"What he is representing is different than what I now represent. And I said to him, ‘I now represent the American people.’ And I think it was important that that be said right up front. And he clearly got, I mean, he clearly understood that as well," he noted.

The meeting between Putin and Tillerson took place in Moscow on April 13, 2017. The parties discussed a number of bilateral issues and the situation in Syria.