Rick Perry heading to Moscow for energy talks in first high-level visit there since Trump's summit with Putin

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Energy Secretary Rick Perry travels to Moscow this week in the first high-level visit there since President Trump's summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The agency has revealed little about his agenda, other than that he was invited by Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak. A brief statement to the agency only said that he would hold bilateral meetings with 'government counterparts' an meet with industry officials.

A national security council spokesman deflected questions about whether Perry planned to raise any non-energy issues, or would be carrying any sort of message from the White House, to the Energy Department. An Energy department official wouldn't provide additional information beyond the terse statement. 

Nevertheless, tensions are high between Washington and Moscow, with Russian election meddling, Syria policy, and Ukraine remaining as significant tension points.

Energy Secretary Rick Perry travels to Moscow this week in the first high-level visit there since President Trump's summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin

At a summit with Putin in Helsinki, Trump accepted the Russian's assurances over U.S. intelligence, which concluded the Kremlin was behind the hacking of Democratic emails during the 2016 elections.

Trump later had to walk back his comments, saying in July that ''I accept our intelligence community's conclusion that Russia's meddling in the 2016 election took place' – although he added that it 'could be other people also, there are a lot of people out there.' 

Prior to his Helsinki visit, Trump blasted Germany for its Nord Stream 2 pipeline plan with Moscow. That topic is expected to come up when Perry visits. His tenure at the Energy Department has made him one of the few cabinet heads not to draw unwelcome headlines about excessive travel costs or other headaches.

Perry's trip also takes him to Vienna.

'We've tried to convey the message in recent days that if there's a third use of chemical weapons the response will be much stronger,' National Security Advisor John Bolton said Monday in a speech to the Federalist Society in Washington 

The energy secretary who twice ran for president and who is among those who lost to Trump in 2016, is to meet counterparts from Saudi Arabia and Russia starting on Monday, sources familiar with the matter said, as the Trump administration encourages oil-producing countries to keep output up two months before it is due to renew sanctions on Iran's crude exports.

A brief statement provided by the Energy Department was vague. It said only: 'The Secretary is traveling to Russia at the invitation of Alexander Novak, Minister of Energy of the Russian Federation following their meetings at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland and the World Gas Conference in Washington, DC in July. During the visit, he will participate in bilateral meetings with government counterparts and meet with industry representatives in the region.'

Syria continues to be a point of tension. The U.S. has issued increasingly stark warnings for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who is backed by Russia, not to use chemical weapons.

Russia’s military said on Sunday that two U.S. F-15 fighter jets dropped phosphorus bombs over Syria’s Deir al-Zor province on Saturday, 

'We've tried to convey the message in recent days that if there's a third use of chemical weapons the response will be much stronger,' National Security Advisor John Bolton said Monday in a speech to the Federalist Society in Washington.

Meanwhile, Russia’s military on Sunday claimed two U.S. F-15 fighter jets dropped phosphorus bombs over Syria’s Deir al-Zor province on Saturday. A Penataon spokesman denied it and said none of the U.S. military units in the region are even equipped with the munitions.

Perry will be the most senior U.S. official to visit Russia since Trump met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki in July to try to improve ties that have dipped to a post-Cold War low. 

Perry will meet Khalid al-Falih, Saudi Arabia's energy minister, and other officials from the kingdom, the world's largest oil exporter, in Washington on Monday morning, a U.S. government source said.

The U.S. energy secretary will also meet with Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak on Thursday in Moscow, the U.S. source and a diplomatic source said.

High oil prices are a political risk for President Donald Trump and his fellow Republicans in Nov. 6 congressional elections. Global oil prices have risen to more than $76 a barrel in recent weeks on concerns about sanctions on Iran's oil exports that Washington will renew on Nov. 4.

Trump withdrew the United States in May from the nuclear deal with Iran, and he is pushing consuming countries to cut their purchases of Iranian oil to zero. The administration may issue some waivers, but some countries, including India, have already reduced purchases of the oil ahead of the sanctions.

Moscow and Washington are at odds over U.S. accusations of Russian meddling in U.S. politics, Syria, Ukraine and the poisoning of a former Russian spy in Britain.

Officials from the United States and Russia, two of the world's largest oil and natural gas producers, formerly met regularly to discuss energy issues. Those meetings stopped in 2014 after Russia annexed Crimea.

Trump has said he wants to improve ties, but his administration is considering imposing new sanctions on Moscow, as is the U.S. Congress.

Novak has said the United States should not be permitted to impose such sanctions without a vote of the U.N. Security Council, of which Russia is a permanent member.

Perry and Novak, who last met in June in Washington, will likely discuss Russia's Nord Stream 2 pipeline project to carry Russian gas to Germany under the Baltic Sea. Trump and former U.S. President Barack Obama have criticized the project, saying it would increase Russian influence in Europe, but Germany supports the pipeline.

Perry and Novak are also expected to discuss oil market cooperation between OPEC, of which Saudi Arabia is the largest producer, and non-OPEC countries, including Russia.

OPEC and non-OPEC officials will meet later this month to discuss proposals for sharing an oil output increase, after the groups decided in June to boost output moderately.

Perry, al-Falih and Darren Woods, the chief executive of ExxonMobil Corp, were introduced on Saturday to the crowd at a Texas A&M University football game in College Station, Texas. All three graduated from the university. (Reporting by Timothy Gardner in Washington and Maria Kiselyova in Moscow; Additional reporting by Olesya Astakhova in Moscow; Editing by Will Dunham and Peter Cooney)