WASHINGTON, June 13 -- The U.S. is working to stabilize its relationship with Russia, which is "at an all-time low," U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Tuesday.
"Our relationship is at an all-time low, and it's been deteriorating further. Our objective is to stabilize that," Tillerson told lawmakers at a Senate hearing.
The top U.S. diplomat's remark came amid tensions between the U.S. and Russia as the two countries hold differences on a slew of issues, including the Syrian conflict, the Ukrainian crisis and the expansion of NATO.
"We are working in a couple of areas in particular to see if we can establish that there is a basis for reestablishing some type of working relationship with the Russian government that is in our interest," Tillerson said.
Tillerson noted that efforts for Washington and Moscow to cooperate are "underway" in Syria.
"Those are, I would say, progressing in a positive way, but it is far too early in the process to say whether they're going to bear fruit," he said.
U.S. President Donald Trump said in April that the U.S. was "not getting along with Russia at all" and the relations between the two countries "may be at an all-time low."
Meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Washington in mid-May, he expressed his desire to build a better relationship between the two countries.