US Secretary of Defense James Mattis said Feb. 16 that while the US is “not in a position right now to collaborate on a military level” with Russia, “our political leaders will engage and try to find common ground or a way forward.” Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, meeting on the same day with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, added that “the United States will consider working with Russia where we can find areas of practical cooperation that will benefit the American people.”

This is a worthy approach. The Islamic State (IS) poses a long-term insurgency and terrorism threat to Russia and the West, even as the territory it controls is diminishing. If the Trump administration is considering sending US ground forces to Syria to enforce safe zones or help take Raqqa, IS’ capital in Syria, this would represent a significant military escalation. Given the murky and complicated regional dynamics of the Syrian war, the US might benefit from a Russian assist.

In meetings in Moscow this month as part of a Track II delegation organized by the Center for the National Interest, Russian officials and foreign policy experts suggested that the fight against IS is both a shared interest and a way to improve ties with the West. Relations have declined sharply since 2014, when Russia annexed Crimea and launched a war in eastern Ukraine.

American officials have in the past charged that Russia’s military has been a paper tiger in dealing with IS in Syria. This is mostly true. Syria and Russia have picked their spots in battling IS. Russia’s priority has been to prevent the collapse of the Syrian government, which, if it led to Libya-like chaos, would harm US interests as well. Russia also has a strong interest in leveraging its support for the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad into a secure long-term position in Syria, which already involves a major air base and naval facilities that underpin Russia’s position in the eastern Mediterranean.