All but ignoring the unfurling drama over Russia and the U.S. election, President Donald Trump on Wednesday sought to advance prospects for cooperation between the former Cold War foes in Syria and elsewhere in a rare Oval Office meeting with Vladimir Putin's top diplomat. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov's talks with Trump were already destined to be a closely watched affair, given the dire state of U.S.-Russian relations and diplomatic wrangling going on over a Moscow-backed deal to stabilize Syria. Yet Trump's stunning decision on the eve of the meeting to fire the FBI director overseeing a Russia-related investigation injected further intrigue into Lavrov's first visit to Washington since 2013.