U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson met with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Moscow.
The two top diplomats agreed that the meeting was to clear up differences and establish common ground.
“It is important for us to understand your intentions, the intentions of the US and the real intentions of this administration. We hope that we can clear that up today,” said the Russian foreign minister.
“Our meetings today come at an important moment in the relationship so that we can further clarify areas of common objectives, areas of common interest even when our tactical approach is maybe different,” said Tillerson. “And to further clarify areas of sharp difference so that we can better understand why these differences exist and what the prospects for narrowing those differences may be.”
Relations between the two countries are tense over the war in Syria.
President Donald Trump ordered missile strikes on a Syrian airbase the week before. It was in response to the use of chemical weapons by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government.
Russia is Assad’s biggest backer and has criticized the U.S. missile strikes.
Other thorny issues include suspected Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election, and how to cooperate in the fight against ISIS.
It is Tillerson’s responsibility to extract some compromises from Moscow in relation to Syria. That includes destroying Assad’s remaining chemical weapons and getting the regime leader to negotiate Syria’s future.
