The Russian and American foreign ministers met Thursday in the Philippines, on the sidelines of an ASEAN meeting. Sergey Lavrov called the continued arms deliveries to Kyiv "unacceptable," while Marco Rubio reaffirmed Washington's willingness to play a "constructive role" in ending the conflict.
The meeting lasted about thirty minutes in Manila, on the sidelines of meetings related to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. This is the umpteenth time the two ministers have met face-to-face since the start of American mediation efforts, with Washington striving to maintain a measured tone towards Moscow.
According to a statement from the Russian Foreign Ministry, Lavrov "emphasized that it was unacceptable to continue arms deliveries to the Kyiv regime." The Russian Foreign Minister also denounced "a destabilizing policy by European countries that continue to seek to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia."
The US State Department, for its part, used a more restrained formulation: the two men "discussed the relationship between the United States and Russia and the need to end the war between Russia and Ukraine." The situation in the Middle East was also on the agenda, with Moscow having condemned the recent US strikes against Iran, its ally.
The day before, Rubio had given his assessment of the situation to the press: "The war in Ukraine has, in many respects, hampered the ability of Russia and the United States to find common ground on other issues." He added that Washington wanted to see this conflict end and remained "ready and willing to play a constructive role."
This bilateral meeting took place just hours after a meeting between Volodymyr Zelensky and American envoys, which the Ukrainian president described as an attempt to "revitalize diplomacy." On the social network X, Zelensky had written on Wednesday: "Peace is necessary, a peace with dignity, and Ukraine has been ready for it for a long time."
Negotiations to end the conflict remain stalled. Moscow maintains its territorial demands, insisting that Kyiv cede territory. Donald Trump, who maintains direct relations with Vladimir Putin, has supported Ukraine's campaign of long-range strikes against Russian energy infrastructure, believing it could "help bring about an end" to the conflict.
More than four years after the start of the large-scale Russian offensive, the strikes are intensifying on both sides of the front, with a growing number of civilian casualties.
Community
Comments
Comments are open, but protected against spam. Initial posts and comments containing links undergo manual review.
Be the first to comment on this article.