Speaking in Paris after talks with his Russian counterpart, Kerry said the two world powers, whose relations have hit a post-Cold War low over Russia’s role in Ukraine, had a “major responsibility” to find ways to work together on global issues, despite their stark differences in a number of areas.
While leaving little doubt that mutual distrust remains, Kerry stressed that the search for common ground between the two countries against Islamic State, which has seized large swaths of Iraq and Syria in a brutal campaign.
"We both recognize the need to destroy and ultimately defeat ISIL, to degrade their efforts and ultimately to defeat them,” Kerry told a news conference, using an alternative name for the group.
"No decent country by any definition could support the horrors that are perpetrated by ISIL, and no civilized country should shirk its responsibility to stand up and be part of the effort to stamp out this disease."
Kerry said the United States and Russia had agreed to “intensify intelligence cooperation with respect to ISIL and other counterterrorism challenges of the region.” He said Moscow would also explore whether it could do more to help arm and train Iraq's embattled military.
However, Kerry stopped short of saying that Moscow would join the US-led international coalition against Islamic State. In recent years, as US-Russian relations have deteriorated, intelligence cooperation has suffered.
Moscow has made clear it suspects Washington's ulterior motive is the removal of its ally, Syria's President Bashar al-Assad, and has insisted that US air strikes there need Syrian government and United Nations approval. Washington rejects this.
Differences on Ukraine
Lavrov has recently called for a new "reset" in relations between Washington and Moscow, referring to an initiative President Barack Obama pursued early in his first term but which has since faded.