US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson (L) and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov (Photo: Reuters)

The two touched upon cooperation to enforce de-escalation zones in Syria and push forward a political settlement.  Lavrov underlined the importance of stepping up the fight against terrorists in Syria as well as respecting Syria’s territorial integrity. He also called for defusing tensions on the Korean peninsula, and asked the US to return seized Russian properties in the US. The two sides agreed to continue dialogues to improve bilateral ties.