Secretary of State John Kerry admits he did not make “substantive progress” with the Russian foreign minister when they discussed the case of Edward Snowden today in Brunei.

“Hi, everybody,” Kerry said to the press after the meeting. “I thought the meeting I had with Secretary [sic] Lavrov merited saying a few words because I think it was constructive and very useful, and I think we both agreed with that. We discussed a wide range of issues, but we obviously focused mostly on the issue of Syria. I did raise the issue of, obviously, Mr. Snowden, but that is not his portfolio. It’s being handled – nor is it mine directly because it’s being handled within the Justice Department. So it is fair to say that we didn’t discuss any substantive progress, but I certainly raised, from our point of view, how it fits within the context of our relationship. But again, not his portfolio, and so it wasn’t discussed in a way that he would be able to take any action on it, though I hope he will communicate the views that I expressed.”