washington u.s. secretary state rex tillerson unenviable task explore u.s.-russian cooperation follow washington late sanction russia moscow expulsion u.s. diplomats tillerson russian foreign minister sergei lavrov meet weekend regional forum manila first face-to-face talk since president donald trump reluctantly sign law sanction russia say amount full-scale trade war end hop good tie sanction pass house congress overwhelm majorities despite trump objections part target russian energy sector new limit u.s. investment russian company retaliation moscow order washington cut 755 1,200 embassy consulate staff russia seize two u.s. diplomatic properties speak reporters tuesday tillerson hold hope good tie belligerence say deal lavrov think commit try find ways bring relationship back analysts former u.s. officials skeptical much progress likely time soon areas reduce violence syria civil war calm conflict eastern ukraine let alone reverse russia annexation crimea backdrop obviously horrible give russian anger sanction bill continue day-to-day revelations russia probe say carnegie endowment analyst andrew weiss refer investigations potential collusion trump campaign russia 2016 u.s. presidential election russia deny seek sway u.s. election trump deny collusion russians probably mood even allow us show progress would say go ahead sanction us without consequences say former u.s. official speak condition anonymity incentive lousy meet tillerson lavrov likely discuss de-escalation zone nations agree establish southwestern syria russia iran main outside backers syrian president bashar al-assad washington support rebel group seek topple six-year civil war second former senior u.s. official say think best two might achieve would prevent deterioration harm side coin say former official speak condition anonymity say would expect two men review areas arctic space arm control u.s.-russian cooperation continue one areas washington moscow could make progress nuclear conventional arm control something achieve throughout long history tensions tillerson lavrov agree principle april resume so-called strategic stability talk dispute range nuclear arm missile defense conventional military deployments europe last formal talk hold 2012. last month side agree exchange schedule proposals near future dialogue talk extend new start 2010 accord require cut deploy strategic nuclear force 1,550 warheads 700 delivery systems feb. 2018. expire 2021 extend five years u.s. russian presidents agree sanction tillerson may find russia talk uphill climb