U.S. assesses Geneva talks with Russia

The United States and Russia said in a joint statement on Thursday that they had held "intensive and substantive" talks in their second meeting within a framework that is aimed at easing tensions between the world's largest nuclear weapons powers.

The two countries have agreed to set up two working groups, which will convene ahead of a third plenary meeting. A date for the third gathering was not provided.

A senior U.S. administration official told reporters that Washington thought it was "a very productive meeting."

"Today the discussion was very interactive and broad-based, and we think we were able to cover a variety of issues," the administration official said, declining to provide specifics.

"I think this was a good building-on of the meeting that we had in July and both delegations really engaging in a detailed and dynamic exchange," the official added.