Key facts
- The Kremlin has indicated it would welcome a meeting between U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
- Rubio stated he was ready to meet Lavrov on the sidelines of ASEAN-related events in Manila.
- Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov described such contacts as largely technical but welcomed a foreign ministerial level meeting.
- Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova confirmed that officials were working to arrange a potential meeting.
- The U.S. State Department and Russia's foreign ministry confirmed that Rubio and Lavrov would meet in Kuala Lumpur.
The Kremlin has expressed its willingness to facilitate a meeting between U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. The potential encounter is set to take place on the sidelines of ASEAN-related events in Manila, where both diplomats are scheduled to be present.
Rubio, visiting Manila from July 19-23, indicated over the weekend that he was prepared to meet Lavrov. However, he expressed uncertainty regarding the finalization of such a meeting. Responding to inquiries on Monday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated that while diplomatic contacts are often technical, Moscow would certainly welcome a meeting at the foreign ministerial level.
Further elaborating, Maria Zakharova, a spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, informed the state news agency RIA that efforts were underway to arrange a possible meeting between Lavrov and Rubio. Later reports from the U.S. State Department and Russia's foreign ministry confirmed that Rubio would indeed meet Lavrov on the sidelines of the ASEAN foreign ministers' meeting, this time specified as taking place in Kuala Lumpur.
This potential diplomatic engagement occurs amidst ongoing complexities in U.S.-Russia relations, particularly concerning the war in Ukraine. The reports also noted that there had been no direct contacts between the Kremlin and the White House in recent days.