Boris Johnson prepares for crunch talks in Moscow with Sergei Lavrov following US airstrikes in Syria

BORIS JOHNSON was last night preparing for crunch talks in Moscow this weekend despite the US attacks on Syria.

Sources claimed the Foreign Secretary was still expected to fly out to meet counterpart Sergei Lavrov tomorrow.

The trip is understood to rely on whether US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson decides to go ahead with a visit of his own on Tuesday.

The two were due to speak by phone last night.

One insider said: “It’s up in the air but Boris is keen to look Lavrov in the eye and give some tough messages face-to-face.”

Speaking yesterday Rex Tillerson said the US missile attack was “proportional”.

The former Exxon boss said Russia had “failed in its responsibility” to deliver on a 2013 deal it helped broker to destroy Syria’s chemical weapons arsenal.

“So either Russia has been complicit or Russia has been simply incompetent on its ability to deliver.”

Russia has repeatedly claimed the horrific gas attack earlier this week in Idlib was the result of Syrian forces hitting a jihadi depot where anti-Assad troops were building chemical weapons.

Boris Johnson’s trip was originally announced at the start of March – in what would be the first visit by a Foreign Secretary to the country since 2012.

The trip was due to take place last month but was postponed because of a rescheduled NATO meeting.