US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov sat down for bilateral talks in Sochi on Tuesday.

"I hope that today we will be able to try to work out concrete proposals aimed at bringing the Russian-American relations from the present sad state in which they turned out because of various objective and subjective reasons," Lavrov said.

"We have many problems requiring immediate action and long-term systemic solutions," he pointed out.

Lavrov added that "there are many suspicions and convictions on both sides, but unfortunately, neither you nor we are winning anything from it."

Pompeo on his part said that "We have differences and each country will protect its own interests, look out for its own interests of its people. But it's not destined that we're adversaries on all issues and I hope that we can find places where we have a set of overlapping interests and continue to build out strong relationships."

"On issues such as arms control and nuclear proliferation, we talked about some of the regional conflicts and terrorism, I think there are spaces where we can get our teams and begin to build out a common set of understandings," he added.

The two countries are in disagreement over a number of issues, including Venezuela, Iran, Ukraine and the detention of citizens from both countries, including alleged Russian foreign agent Maria Butina and alleged US spy Paul Whelan. Pompeo's visit also comes in light of the recent release of the Mueller report.