Pompeo, Lavrov discuss Syrian and Ukrainian crises

By Elena Teslova

MOSCOW

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo have discussed the crises in Syria and Ukraine over the phone on Wednesday.

The phone call was initiated by the U.S., said a statement published on the Russian Foreign Ministry website.

"The minister and the state secretary agreed on the need to work on the implementation of the task, set in the telephone conversation between President Vladimir Putin and President Donald Trump, to overcome the existing differences through professional dialogue in the interests of normalizing the atmosphere of Russian-American interaction," the statement said.

This is the first contact of the two countries' top diplomats since Mike Pompeo was appointed secretary of state.