And yes, that muffled sound you hear is the world laughing at us.

SOCHI, Russia (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry met Tuesday with Russian President Vladimir Putin in a bid to ease badly strained relations over the conflicts in Ukraine and Syria, but the tone ahead of the meeting didn’t augur well for a breakthrough on any of the many issues dividing the two powers.

On his first trip to Russia since the Ukraine crisis began, Kerry held more than four hours of talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov at a hotel in the Black Sea resort of Sochi before seeing Putin at his presidential residence in the city. Putin is in Sochi meeting with Russian defense officials for a week.

The top U.S. diplomat plans to test Putin’s willingness to make pro-Russia separatists in Ukraine comply with an increasingly fragile ceasefire agreement, according to U.S. officials traveling with him.