Secretary of State Rex Tillerson reportedly rejected a phone call with a top European Union official after his April trip to Russia, Foreign Policy reported Thursday.

Tillerson’s office declined the call of EU's foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, instead handing it off to a lower-level official at the State Department, multiple sources familiar with the incident told FP.

Mogherini was reportedly angry over Tillerson's refusal to take her call, which Mogherini perceived as a slight.

ADVERTISEMENT

This move reportedly created some tension in the U.S.-EU relationship, which has been further strained after President Trump criticized European allies during his trip last week.

Mogherini’s staff reached out to Tillerson’s office about arranging the call following his Moscow meetings in mid-April with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

U.S. allies hoped to be briefed by Tillerson about the meetings, multiple sources told FP. Instead, Tillerson reportedly refused to talk to Mogherini.

“It really pissed her off,” one source told the magazine.

“This is like a total screw-up,” another source close to the Mogherini told FP. “This is not the way you treat Mogherini.”

Mogherini reportedly declined the offer by Tillerson’s office to instead talk to Brian Hook, who oversees policy planning at the State Department.

But one EU official insisted that Tillerson did not formally refuse to speak to the EU foreign policy chief.

“We never had to suffer from a denial from the U.S. side for a call with the secretary of State,” the official reportedly said. “[Mogherini] had several phone conversations with the secretary on different issues.”