On first visit to Russia, Pompeo says Trump seeks better ties

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, on his first visit to Russia as the top U.S. diplomat, told Russian officials that the Trump administration is committed to improving ties and wants to work together where the two countries have what he called "overlapping interests."

"I'm here today because President Trump is committed to improving this relationship," Pompeo told Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov at the start of talks in Russia's Black Sea resort of Sochi on Tuesday. "It's not destined that we're adversaries on every issue."

Pompeo, who's also due to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin during his visit, singled out counter-terrorism, nonprofileration and arms control as issues where the two adversaries -- whose relations are at a post-Cold War low -- might build common ground.

For his part, Lavrov called the state of U.S.-Russian relations "regrettable" and signaled he was keeping expectations low for a breakthrough. "Let's try, and see what happens," he said.

The pair's remarks reflected wariness born of repeated clashes over issues ranging from Venezuela to Syria, Iran to U.S. election hacking, even as they test once again whether there is room for improved ties, as the two countries' presidents have repeatedly sought.

While diplomatic contacts are resuming, there's "no pivot in sight, no breakthrough in the offing,'' Dmitri Trenin, Moscow Carnegie Center director, wrote on Twitter. "Contacts will continue, but normalization will be long in coming."

Before meeting Pompeo, Putin flew to a flight test airbase in the southern Astrakhan region escorted by six of Russia's latest Su-57 stealth fighter jets to inspect new hypersonic weapons he's touted as invulnerable to U.S. defenses. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said it was a scheduled inspection visit and dismissed as "conspiracy theories" suggestions that it was a signal to Washington, the state-run Tass news service reported.

While the Kremlin wants to strengthen relations with Trump, particularly now that Special Counsel Robert Mueller's inquiry into alleged collusion with Russia has concluded, it's also reluctant to appear too keen after repeated snubs from Washington.

President Donald Trump again upended expectations on Monday when he announced that he'll meet Putin at the Group of 20 summit in Japan next month. Peskov said Russia was still waiting for an invitation.

"So far, there are no agreements on starting preparations for a meeting," Peskov told reporters Tuesday on a conference call. While improvements in U.S.-Russia relations can only take place through talks between the two leaders, "you'll recall that it was Trump who decided to cancel the meeting last time," he said.

Trump stunned Russian officials in November by scrapping a meeting with Putin at last year's G-20 summit in Argentina with a Twitter announcement the day before the talks, blaming tensions over Russia's capture of Ukrainian sailors. That followed the cancellation of talks planned for Paris during Nov. 11 commemorations for the centenary of the end of World War I.

It's not clear what's changed since then. At the time, Trump cited Russia's failure to release Ukrainian ships and sailors seized during clashes in the Kerch Strait near Crimea as the reason for his refusal to meet Putin. The sailors remain in detention as Russia continues plans to prosecute them, said Nikolai Polozov, who's leading their defense team.

While the Kremlin insisted at the time that Russia wasn't offended by the two failed attempts within a month to meet, Putin's foreign policy aide, Yuri Ushakov, said Russia "won't beg" the U.S. for talks and it was up to the Americans to make the next move.

Russian complaints about mixed messages from Washington are unlikely to be eased by a speech Pompeo gave Saturday on Trump’s `America First’ foreign policy, in which he told a Claremont Institute gala in Beverly Hills that “the Putin regime slays dissidents in cold blood and invades its neighbors.”