Rubio expected to meet Russian foreign minister on Thursday
Secretary of State Marco Rubio plans to meet Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Thursday, just days after President Donald Trump expressed frustration with Russian President Vladimir Putin for not engaging in peace talks with Ukraine, according to a senior State Department official.
The meeting is set to take place in Malaysia on the sidelines of a meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN.
It will be the second time that Rubio meets with his Russian counterpart, the first being in Saudi Arabia earlier this year. The two have talked on the phone multiple times in recent months as the US pushed for a ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia that never came to fruition.
Throughout the first few months of his second term, Trump sought a more conciliatory tone with Putin, aimed at drawing him into agreeing to end the Ukraine war. Now, as Russia’s assault on Ukraine continues Trump’s anger is public, setting up a potentially tense meeting between Rubio and Lavrov.
(Ref: CNN)