Secretary of State Marco Rubio plans to meet Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Thursday, just days after President Donald Trump expressed frustration with Russian President Vladimir Putin for not engaging in peace talks with Ukraine, according to a senior State Department official.
The meeting is set to take place in Malaysia on the sidelines of a meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN.
Trump reiterated multiple times this week that Ukraine needed defensive weapons. His comments came after a halt in weapons flow to Ukraine, directed by the Pentagon, set off confusion about continued US military support for Ukraine.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth did not inform the White House before he gave the green light to pause shipments of weapons to Ukraine last week and the move also caught Rubio off guard, CNN reported. Shortly after the halt Trump said at least some of the weapons shipments would continue.
“Putin is not — he’s not treating human beings right,” Trump said of his Russian counterpart on Tuesday. “He’s killing too many people.”
“So we’re sending some defensive weapons to Ukraine, and I’ve approved that,” Trump said.
Trump also criticized Putin sharply, saying he has offered a lot of “bullsh*t” which has proved to be “meaningless.”
Following those comments, Russia launched its largest drone assault to date on Ukraine with more than 700 drones, according to Ukraine’s Air Force.
It will be the second time that Rubio meets with his Russian counterpart, the first being in Saudi Arabia earlier this year. The two have talked on the phone multiple times in recent months as the US pushed for a ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia that never came to fruition.
Throughout the first few months of his second term, Trump sought a more conciliatory tone with Putin, aimed at drawing him into agreeing to end the Ukraine war. Now, as Russia’s assault on Ukraine continues Trump’s anger is public, setting up a potentially tense meeting between Rubio and Lavrov.
Trump’s tariffs add complexity to Rubio’s Asia trip
Rubio is also meeting his ASEAN counterparts during the gathering in Kuala Lumpur just days after Trump declared that many of the countries will be subject to US tariffs in less than a month unless they strike trade deals.
The tariffs added a layer of complexity to Rubio’s first trip to Asia as Trump’s top diplomat. Eight of the 10 counties in ASEAN — along with South Korea and Japan which will have delegations in Kuala Lumpur — will face tariffs from the US on August 1, if the implementation deadline holds.
Trump began announcing plans for the tariffs in letters to several of the nations that he posted on social media the day before Rubio’s departure.
The president has made clear that trade and economics are a centerpiece of his foreign policy. Even though Rubio is not Trump’s top trade negotiator, Trump administration officials expected him to face many questions and frustrations about the tariffs in his meetings, one senior administration official said.
Rubio signaled early this year that he intended to shore up alliances in Asia to focus on the challenge posed by China: he met with his counterparts from Australia, Japan and India as his first diplomatic engagement as Secretary of State.
His trip to Asia was set to reassure the region of the US commitment.
“In his first trip to Asia as secretary of state, Secretary Rubio is focused on reaffirming the United States commitment to advancing a free, open and secure Indo-Pacific region,” said Tammy Bruce, the State Department spokeswoman.
But Asia has not been at the top of his agenda throughout Rubio’s first six months on the job, while the Middle East, Ukraine and South America have consumed most of his time. Even this trip to the region only includes one stop, with Rubio spending the earlier part of the week at the White House for meetings with visiting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
This story has been updated with additional details.
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