During the snap meeting, the two diplomats will hold talks on how to put an end to fighting in the war torn country and further humanitarian aid for the Syrian people, according to the US State Department.
"Their discussion follows recent conversations on Syria and will focus on reducing violence, expanding humanitarian assistance for the Syrian people, and moving towards a political solution needed to end the civil war," spokesman John Kirby said in a written statement.
Syria's civil war: Government says making gains in Aleppo
The US and Russia have backed opposite sides in a war showing little sign of ending since its beginning in 2011.
Senior US officials said Kerry would not have flown out to the high-level face-to-face talks with Lavrov unless he thought there was a chance of progress.
However, they warned there was no guarantee of a final agreement within the narrow window available before both men return home later on Friday.
"We have been taking issues off the table because we've reached an understanding on them. We continue to have some issues that remain outstanding and that we have been unable to close," an official was quoted as saying by the Reuters news agency.
"We cannot guarantee at this point that we are on the cusp of finishing," he said, adding that the remaining issues were highly technical and complicated.
Moscow is a leading supporter of the Syrian government led by President Bashar al-Assad, while Washington backs the rebels. Both powers have been fighting the common enemy the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) group in Syria.
Al Jazeera's Jonah Hull, reporting from Geneva, said that the US and Russia have been trying hard in recent months to hammer out a ceasefire deal and pave the way for the UN-sponsored peace talks to start in Geneva.
"On Thursday, it did not even look like Kerry was coming to Geneva at all. The State Department said that the two sides were not close enough to warrant a meeting. It is not clear what changed after that," he said.
Washington wants concrete steps from Russia to force its Syrian ally Assad to stop bombing his own people and to lift the siege of Aleppo, a key city near the Turkish border.
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