US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov held talks on Thursday on the sidelines of the ASEAN summit in Manila, as Washington and Moscow sought to manage deep divisions over the Ukraine war while facing growing tensions in the Middle East.
The meeting took place as conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East continue to intensify, including escalating friction between the United States and Iran, adding further pressure to an already fragile global security landscape.
Rubio and Lavrov discussed the future of US-Russia relations and the need to find a path toward ending the Russia-Ukraine war, though neither official responded to reporters’ questions on whether Russia was assisting Iran in attacks targeting US forces or whether Moscow was prepared to halt its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Both leaders discussed “the US-Russia relationship and the need to end the Russia-Ukraine war.”
Russia’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said Lavrov briefed Rubio on developments along the front lines in Ukraine and “emphasized the inadmissibility of further arming the Kyiv regime.”
However, she added that Lavrov confirmed Moscow was open to “a political and diplomatic settlement of the conflict.”
Ahead of the meeting, Rubio said discussions with Lavrov would include Ukraine but suggested that dialogue with Moscow remained necessary despite disagreements.
“I don’t know if the term is press him. We’re going to talk about it,” Rubio told reporters when asked whether he would push Lavrov on the war.
“Obviously the war in Ukraine has in many ways impeded the ability of Russia and the United States to find areas of agreement on other topics; that doesn’t mean we won’t seek to find other areas of potential cooperation,” he said.
Rubio also said there could be new opportunities for diplomatic engagement, adding, “Perhaps there are now new conditions in place that will allow that conversation to happen.”
The meeting comes as peace efforts between Russia and Ukraine have made little progress despite repeated diplomatic initiatives. US President Donald Trump had said during his 2023 and 2024 election campaigns that he would bring the conflict to an end shortly after returning to office.
However, more than 500 days into his second term, fighting continues, and negotiations have failed to produce a breakthrough despite the Alaska summit in 2025.
