While American Secretary of State Rex Tillerson visits Moscow this week, the Kremlin and the White House continue to exchange jabs in the media over the chemical weapon attack in Syria last Tuesday, and the resulting American military action taken against Assad’s regime on Thursday.

White House spokesman Sean Spicer once again voiced the concerns of the Trump administration regarding Russia’s seemingly unwavering support for Assad and his regime in Syria, claiming that Russia is isolating themselves from the international community by continuing to stand by the Syrian leader.

“Russia is on an island when it comes to its support of Syria,” Spicer told reporters.  “In this particular case, it’s no question that Russia is isolated. They have aligned themselves with North Korea, Syria, Iran. That’s not exactly a group of countries you’re looking to hang out with. With the exception of Russia, they are all failed states.”

According to Spicer and other White House officials, a concerted Russian and Syrian effort to mislead the public as to the events that occurred in Syria last week is already under way, claiming the two nations are working to “confuse the world community about who is responsible for using chemical weapons against the Syrian people in this and earlier attacks.”