WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The United States and Russia said in a joint statement on Thursday that they had held “intensive and substantive” talks in their second meeting within a framework that is aimed at easing tensions between the world’s largest nuclear weapons powers.

They have established two working groups that will meet before a third plenary. The date of the third meeting was not set.

The U.S. President Joe Biden, and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to a bilateral integrated ‘Strategic Stability Dialogue. This dialogue will lay the foundations for future arms control measures and risk reduction.

In July, two delegations representing the two countries resumed negotiations. This was the first meeting in almost a year between the leaders of the two countries. The talks were reopened amid tensions about a variety of issues including arms control.

The second Geneva meeting was held Thursday by the U.S. Deputy Secretary-of State Wendy Sherman and Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov. They agreed that the working groups will focus on the principles and goals for future arms control, capabilities and strategic actions.

Reporters were told by a top U.S. government official that Washington found it “very productive.”

According to the official, “Today’s discussion was extremely interactive and broad-based” and that it covered a wide range of topics, but declined to elaborate.

The official said that the discussion was an excellent follow-up to the July meeting and the two delegations engaged in a lively and detailed exchange.