The visit of the United States top diplomat Rex Tillerson to Russia led to no substantial improvements in the relationship of the two countries. Russia and the United States are still poles apart on numerous issues confronting the international community. Nonetheless, the state-level visit was significant in that it allows the two countries to pursue a dialogue.

According to a statement President Vladimir Putin made on the eve of the U.S. Secretary of State’s meeting with his counterpart Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, the relationship of Russia and the United States is in a bad shape. Speaking to Mir 24 television network, the Russian leader stated that the trust between Moscow and Washington eroded further in the first months of Donald Trump’s presidency. In the final days of Barack Obama’s administration, political observers already openly talked about the return of the Cold War.

The rhetoric on the eve of Mr. Tillerson’s trip to Russia was heated indeed. The Secretary of State demanded that Russia choose what side to be on in Syria, to which Russian official said that it was inappropriate to dole out ultimatums. On top of that, the U.S. media reported that Russia tried to conceal Bashar al-Assad’s purported chemical weapons strike against civilians in the Idlib province. In response, Russia denied the claims as sounding preposterous.

It was not certain whether Mr. Tillerson would actually get to sit down with the Russian President. A day prior to the U.S. Secretary of State’s arrival, the Russian President’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov indicated that the country’s leader was not planning to meet the American official. Ultimately, a meeting did take place because the subject of discussion was very important.

The conversation of Mr. Tillerson and Foreign Minister Lavrov revolved around the issue of Syria. According to press briefing statements made following the bilateral talks, while the nations are in disagreement on handling the confrontation in Syria, they are prepared to discuss their differences in a pragmatic way. Mr. Tillerson repeated the United States’ position that the Assad government must leave and that Russia needed to assist in the transition of power. In his turn, the Russian Foreign Minister took issue with the U.S. stance on al-Nusra insurgents, saying that “the suspicion persists that al-Nusra has been spared so far with the view of attempting, at some point, to use it in toppling Assad.”

Russia and the United States are also at odds on whether chemical weapons were used in Syria. Russia has called for a thorough investigation under the auspices of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, even as the United States condemned Assad’s war crimes against his own citizens.  

For all the geopolitical brouhaha, the American and the Russian diplomats were satisfied with the outcome of their meetings in Moscow. Foreign Minister Lavrov stated that Russia was considering restoring the Syria flight safety agreement that it had suspended after the U.S. attacked the Shayrat airfield. Separately, Sergey Lavrov said that a group of officials from the Foreign Ministry and the State Department will come together to explore for solutions to the problems that exist in bilateral relations.

For his part, Mr. Tillerson summarized that there was a low level of trust between the two countries. The U.S. top-ranking diplomat added that the world’s foremost nuclear powers cannot have this kind of a relationship.

Political commentators think that one constructive outcome of Mr. Tillerson’s visit to Moscow was that Russia and the U.S. resumed dialogue, even if they were not able to bring their respective positions closer. Another positive aspect of the new United States Secretary of State’s day in the Russian capital is that he, unlike his predecessor, was not interested in meeting with members of the opposition. Mr. Tillerson did not raise any issues internal to Russia’s politics.

In addition to the crisis in Syria, Foreign Minister Lavrov and Mr. Tillerson addressed the nuclear situation in North Korea, confirming their commitment to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula.

The situation in Ukraine was high on the agenda as well, and the two sides at the talks stressed the paramount significance of adhering to the Minsk accords.

According to Foreign Minister Lavrov, at no point during the talks did Mr. Tillerson threaten to impose additional sanctions on Russia. By the same token, easing U.S. sanctions targeting Russian companies and individuals over the situation in Ukraine was not a topic of discussion.

On the day of Mr. Tillerson’s talks in Moscow, the U.S. President Donald Trump met with NATO’s Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. The U.S. leader praised Secretary Tillerson’s handling of the negotiations, adding that it was imperative to improve America’s relationship with Russia.