Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov speaks at his news conference at the Russian Embassy in Washington, U.S., May 10, 2017. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, on a visit to Washington, said on Wednesday that his discussions with people in the Trump administration persuaded him they were people of action who wanted to cut deals and solve problems.

Speaking at a news conference in the Russian embassy in Washington, Lavrov said that his talks with U.S. officials had not covered the U.S. sanctions imposed on Russia over its role in the Ukraine conflict.

He said the focus of his discussions had been on creating so-called de-escalation zones inside Syria.

“Now our dialogue is free of the ideologization that was characteristic of the Obama administration,” Lavrov said. “The Trump administration, and the president himself, and the Secretary of State, I was persuaded of this once again today, are people of action.”

Lavrov said the administration officials “want to reach agreements not for the sake of showing off their achievements in terms of ideological preferences, but to reach agreements into order to resolve specific issues.”