WATCH: State Department spokesperson Ned Price speaks on Blinken’s meeting with Turkey’s foreign minister

The United States and Turkey on Wednesday looked to brush aside differences that have strained relations for years but were unable to report progress in resolving disagreements over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and NATO expansion that have soured ties between the allies.

Watch the briefing in the player above.

At a meeting in Washington, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and visiting Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu sought to bridge those gaps, but there was no immediate sign that they had, even though both men lauded the partnership between their countries.

They played up cooperation on Ukraine, with Blinken in particular praising Turkey’s leadership in securing a deal with Russia for the transport of Ukrainian grain.

In a press briefing Wednesday, State Department spokesperson Ned Price said, “we are grateful for the role that Turkey has played in helping to address many of the most pressing challenges of our time.”

“It is probably not an exaggeration to say that without Turkey’s constructive role, we would not have the Black Sea Green initiative, certainly not the grain initiative that is functioning at the scope and scale that is now,” he added.

But in brief remarks before their meeting, neither specifically mentioned their differences over the accession of Finland and Sweden to NATO, which the Turks have so far blocked despite strong support from the U.S. and other allies.

Turkey is demanding that the Sweden does more to rein in Kurdish groups that Ankara sees as a threat to its security before approving the alliance’s expansion.

“We share the enthusiasm that we’ve heard from our partners when it comes to Finland and Sweden, NATO membership. And we’re going to continue to encourage Finland, Sweden, Turkey to engage in constructive dialog to see this through just as quickly as can be managed,” Price said.

Cavusoglu made no mention of Finland and Sweden in his comments, but did make a point of stressing the importance Turkey places on winning U.S. approval to buy advanced F-16 fighters, something the Biden administration supports but that faces significant congressional opposition.

READ MORE: NATO warns of extended war in Ukraine, vows to be ready

Cavusoglu called the F-16 deal a “significant topic” in U.S.-Turkey defense cooperation.

Cavusoglu’s visit is a rare one to Washington by a top Turkish official as President Joe Biden’s administration has kept its distance from Turkey because of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s increasingly authoritarian direction and policies curbing rights and freedoms.

Positioned at the crossroads between East and West, Turkey remains strategically important for Washington. And, as Blinken pointed out, Turkey was key to the agreement between Russia and Ukraine that allowed millions of tons of Ukrainian grain to be transported to world markets, averting a food crisis during the war.

NATO allies, however, frequently find themselves at odds over a number of issues, with the biggest disputes centering on Turkey’s purchase of Russian-made missiles and support for Kurdish militants in Syria.

Turkey’s acquisition of the S-400 air defense system from Russia in 2017 led to sanctions and Turkey being removed from the development program for the next-generation F-35 fighter plane. After losing out on the F-35, Ankara is trying to restock its F-16 fleet.

U.S. concern over Ankara’s cozy relationship with the Kremlin has been reinvigorated by the war in Ukraine. Despite Turkey’s ties with Moscow producing breakthroughs such as the grain deal and prisoner swaps, Washington is worried about sanctions-busting as Turkish-Russian trade levels have risen over the last year.

And, Ankara’s feet-dragging over ratifying bids by Sweden and Finland to join NATO has added to friction between the allies.

Turkey’s recent attempts at rapprochement with Syria after a decade of bitter enmity have caused another break with the U.S. Following a meeting of Syrian and Turkish defense ministers in Moscow last month, the U.S. State Department reiterated its opposition to countries normalizing relations with Damascus.

The U.S. military has also warned that a threatened Turkish operation against the Kurdish YPG in northern Syria could destabilize the region and revive the Islamic State group.

During his press briefing Price also addressed reporters’ questions on Moscow’s suggestions that CIA Director William Burns and Russian officials could possibly meet in the future.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov recently said Moscow has never broken dialogue with the US amid the “special military operation” in Ukraine and cited a recent meeting between CIA chief Burns and Russian Foreign Intelligence Service head Sergey Naryshkin as an example.

In addition, Price discussed the process of moving forward with the location of the U.S. Israeli Embassy being built in Jerusalem.