Relations between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his U.S. counterpart Barack Obama are very pragmatic and there’s a "need for normalcy" between the two countries, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.

A "realistic approach is getting the upper hand" in ties, Lavrov said in an interview with Bloomberg Television in Moscow on Tuesday. He was "surprised that people paid so much attention" to last month’s meeting between Putin and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, their first in two years.

While there have been attempts to "derail relations" over the crisis in Ukraine, Lavrov said he and Kerry had met 17 times in the past year "more than with any of my counterparts."

Ties between Russia and the U.S. have plunged to their lowest point in decades over the Russian-backed insurgency in Ukraine.

The two countries also remain at odds over the U.S. policy of seeking the ouster of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, whose regime is supported by Russia and Iran.