The US secretary of state has described his conversation with the Russian foreign minister on Thursday as “frank” and “important”
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said he and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov discussed “new and different” ideas on resolving the Ukraine conflict during their meeting on the sidelines of the ASEAN forum in Malaysia on Thursday.
Commenting after the talks, Rubio described them as “frank and important,” adding that he would brief US President Donald Trump on the discussion later on Thursday.
The two diplomats met for around an hour, according to Reuters.
The US will continue to talk to both Russia and Ukraine in an effort to bring peace closer, according to the top American diplomat. “Our strategy is to continue to engage all the parties that are involved in finding an outcome to this conflict,” Rubio told journalists when asked about Trump’s approach to resolving the standoff. “We will engage anytime we have an opportunity to do so like we did today.”
According to Rubio, he and Lavrov discussed a possible roadmap for ending the Ukraine conflict and “shared some ideas about what that might look like.” He also expressed hope that Russia would demonstrate more “flexibility” in its approach.
The new proposals do not necessarily “guarantee peace,” Rubio said, but added that they could still be “something to build on.”
The Russian Foreign Ministry described the talks as a “substantive and frank exchange of opinions” regarding the settlement of the Ukraine conflict. The two sides also strive to revive bilateral economic ties as well as “unimpeded” contacts, the ministry said, noting the importance of normalizing the work of diplomatic missions and restoring direct flights between Russia and the US.
The talks on Thursday followed a phone conversation between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin last week. The American president said he was “unhappy” with his Russian counterpart, accusing Putin of not wanting to settle the Ukraine conflict. Putin “is very nice all the time, but it turns out to be meaningless,” Trump claimed on Wednesday.
The Kremlin responded by saying that Moscow remains “committed to continuing our dialogue with Washington,” but reiterated that the Ukraine conflict “is impossible to resolve overnight.”
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