Secretary of State Rex Tillerson called on the Kremlin to de-escalate the violence in Ukraine after his first meeting with his Russian counterpart on Thursday.
“The United States will consider working with Russia when we can find areas of practical cooperation that will benefit the American people,” Tillerson said after the meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Germany.
“Where we do not see eye to eye, the United States will stand up with the interests and values of America and her allies.”
The Kremlin annexed the Crimean Peninsula in Ukraine in 2014.
Since then, thousands have been killed in the fighting between Russian-backed separatists and Ukrainian forces. The Minsk agreement signed in 2016 was intended to end the conflict, but the violence has continued.
“As we search for new common ground, we expect Russia to honor its commitments to the Minsk agreement and work to de-escalate the violence in the Ukraine,” Tillerson said at the gathering of foreign ministers in Germany.
The meeting between Tillerson and Lavrov came after Michael Flynn stepped down as President Trump’s national security adviser following reports that he misled the White House on his contacts with a Russian ambassador.
The resignation created an awkward moment at the high-level talks when a reporter shouted a question to Lavrov about whether the turmoil roiling Washington was a concern to Russia.
“You should know we do not interfere in the domestic matters of other countries,” he responded, offering the standard Kremlin line.