Lavrov and Rubio Discussed Ukraine and Russia's Willingness to End the War During Their Visit to the Philippines
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov held talks on the sidelines of an ASEAN event in the Philippines. This was their first in-person meeting since September of last year; the conversation lasted about 30 minutes.
Representing Russia at the talks were Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Rudenko, Director of the Department of Foreign Policy Planning Alexei Drobinin, and the Russian President’s Permanent Representative to ASEAN, Yevgeny Zagainov. Representing the U.S. side were Deputy Secretary of State for Political Affairs Alison Hooker and U.S. Special Envoy Sergio Hor.
According to a statement from the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, during his meeting with Rubio, Lavrov “reaffirmed Russia’s readiness to resolve the conflict in Ukraine and its commitment to the Anchorage agreements.”
In addition, Lavrov briefed Rubio on the situation on the front lines and stated that “further arms deliveries to Kyiv are unacceptable.” He also criticized the policies of European countries, which, he said, continue to seek to inflict a “strategic defeat” on Russia.
It is reported that during the meeting, they also discussed normalizing the operating conditions for Russian and American diplomatic missions, as well as resuming full-fledged contacts between Roscosmos and NASA.
Later, Rubio also commented on his meeting with Lavrov on his X page.
“Today I met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on the sidelines of the ASEAN Ministerial Conference. We discussed relations between the U.S. and Russia and the need to end the Russian-Ukrainian war,” he wrote.
Earlier, Sergey Lavrov, the foreign minister of Russia—the aggressor state—stated that he would meet with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) events in the Philippines.
As a reminder, Russia, the aggressor state, is ready to return to negotiations with Ukraine only after seizing the entire territory of the Donetsk region, Bloomberg reports, citing two sources close to the Kremlin.
