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Lavrov confirms Manila meeting with Rubio on Ukraine, Iran
🇵🇾 Paraguay /Conflict & Security

Lavrov confirms Manila meeting with Rubio on Ukraine, Iran

From ABC Color · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Sources not specified Context piece
  • Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov confirmed a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Manila to discuss Ukraine and Iran.
  • The meeting, scheduled for Thursday, will address ongoing conflicts and recent statements regarding a potential settlement in Ukraine.
  • Lavrov expressed Russia's desire for the conflicts to end due to their impact on the global economy.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov confirmed that he will meet with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Manila on Thursday. The high-level diplomatic encounter aims to discuss the ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and Iran. The two top diplomats are attending a ministerial meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in the Philippine capital.

Lavrov stated that the meeting was briefly confirmed during a reception the previous evening. He indicated that Moscow believes the United States has not abandoned proposals made at a 2025 summit in Alaska, where Russian President Vladimir Putin and then-U.S. President Donald Trump met. Western media had previously reported that Trump was willing to let Russia keep the Donbas region in exchange for a halt in fighting in Ukraine.

However, Lavrov noted that Rubio has become more critical of Russia's military campaign in recent months, calling it a "strategic failure" and stating Russia has no chance of winning the war. These remarks were reportedly poorly received by Lavrov. The Russian minister also plans to question Rubio about recent statements made by Trump suggesting a settlement in Ukraine is imminent.

We saw each other briefly yesterday at the reception and confirmed it.

— Sergey LavrovConfirming the meeting with Marco Rubio during a press conference in Manila.

Peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, mediated by the United States, have been stalled since February, coinciding with the start of U.S. airstrikes against Iran. Ukraine has since intensified its attacks on Russian rear areas, prompting Moscow to increase its bombing of Kyiv and the Black Sea port of Odesa. Regarding Iran, Lavrov asserted that the continuation of hostilities does not serve the interests of either the U.S. or Iran. "We want all of this to end, as it affects the world economy," he emphasized.

The Kremlin welcomed the preparations for the Lavrov-Rubio meeting. Their last encounter took place in September during the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

We want all of this to end, as it affects the world economy.

— Sergey LavrovCommenting on the conflicts in Ukraine and Iran and their global economic impact.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by ABC Color in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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