Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio have held rare face-to-face talks on the sidelines of the ASEAN meeting in Malaysia, discussing the war in Ukraine, as well as developments in Iran and Syria, as Moscow-Washington, DC relations navigate rocky terrain.
“A substantive and frank exchange of views took place on the settlement of the situation around Ukraine, the situation around Iran and Syria, as well as a number of other international issues,” Russia’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement following the meeting on Thursday in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Both sides reportedly expressed interest in easing tensions and resuming dialogue in areas beyond the battlefield.
Lavrov and Rubio “confirmed their mutual desire to find peaceful solutions to conflicts, restore Russian-American economic and humanitarian cooperation, and facilitate unimpeded contacts between the societies of the two countries”, the ministry added.
The Russian side described the meeting as constructive, saying dialogue between Moscow and Washington would continue.
Rubio, speaking to reporters after the 50-minute meeting, said he had delivered a clear message about the need for progress on the war in Ukraine.
“I had a frank and important conversation with Minister Lavrov,” Rubio said. “We need to see a roadmap moving forward about how this conflict can conclude.”
He said US President Donald Trump remained disappointed with what Washington, DC views as a lack of flexibility from Moscow.
Trump has been growing increasingly frustrated with Russian President Vladimir Putin, saying the Russian leader was throwing a lot of “b*******” at US efforts to end the war that started with Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Rubio also signalled that a meeting with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi may take place during the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) gathering. “I think we’re working on that — maybe, maybe we’ll meet,” he said at a press conference.
The meeting between the Russian and US envoys comes at a time of heightened global polarisation, with ASEAN serving as one of the few venues where dialogue among rival powers still takes place.
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