Rubio: we discussed with Russian foreign minister the need to end Russia-Ukraine war
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said that, at a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in the Philippines, he discussed the need to end the war against Ukraine.
Source: Rubio on X (Twitter), as reported by European Pravda
Details: Rubio gave few details about the talks, which took place on the sidelines of the annual meeting of foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Manila.
Quote: "Met today with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on the sidelines of the ASEAN Ministerial. We discussed the US-Russia relationship and the need to end the Russia-Ukraine war."
More details: The Associated Press reported that before the meeting, Rubio and Lavrov ignored journalists' questions about whether Russia is helping Iran by providing Tehran with data on US facilities in the region and about when Russia will end the war in Ukraine.
Lavrov did not answer the questions, but told journalists to "speak up", even though the room was quiet and the question was clearly audible.
When the Russian minister left the meeting around half an hour later, he was again asked whether Russia is helping Iran attack American forces. "Nice haircut," he replied, staring directly at the reporter.
Background:
- Rubio told journalists in Manila on 22 July that he will discuss the Russia-Ukraine war with Lavrov. He said the US remains open to playing a role in ending the conflict "if that opportunity presents itself".
- He added that talks between the United States and Russia had made little progress in recent months, but that new conditions might now have emerged that would allow such dialogue to take place.
- Lavrov said during a meeting with Rubio that he briefed Rubio on the "real" state of affairs in Russia's war against Ukraine and stated that further arms deliveries to Ukraine were "unacceptable".
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