MOSCOW — US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo came to Sochi Tuesday for talks with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov, and President Vladimir Putin also hosted Pompeo for a short discussion of the most acute issues over which Moscow and Washington are currently sparring. A week prior, on May 6, Lavrov and Pompeo met in Helsinki on the sidelines of the Arctic Council.

“We understand that much suspicion and prejudice has piled up on both sides, but neither you nor we are benefitting from it. On the contrary, mutual bitterness increases the risks to your security and ours, and is of concern to the entire international community,” Lavrov stated in his opening remarks.

“I believe it's time to start building a new, more responsible and constructive matrix of how we see each other. We are ready to do so, of course, if our US partners are interested in doing so as well. … The fact that we are meeting for the second time in the past two weeks inspires certain optimism. Let's give it a try and see what happens,” he concluded.

On May 3, US President Donald Trump called Putin. Following the conversation, the Russian Foreign Ministry and the US State Department were tasked to “intensify the dialogue” over a number of pressing bilateral and international issues.