(28.11.2017) Senior State Department officials felt they‘d made progress in an agreement between President Trump and the Russian leader announced earlier this month.

In particular, they pointed to Mr Putin‘s commitment to the UN blueprint for a political transition that established the framework for multiple rounds of so far fruitless negotiations in Geneva.

This was „probably the clearest articulation by the Russian president to date that (the Security Council Resolution) is a roadmap for the political process,“ said one of the officials.