The Donald Trump administration is ready to help end the armed conflict in Ukraine, but there is no quick path to concluding a peace agreement, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said after a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, reports Associated Press (AP). Diplomacy will require “continuous efforts and new ideas,” the head of the American foreign policy department emphasized, speaking to reporters in Manila (Philippines) on the sidelines of the ASEAN summit.
These were the first face-to-face talks between the two ministers in almost a year. The last time Lavrov and Rubio met was in Malaysia in July 2025. The head of the US State Department noted that Moscow and Kyiv should have an incentive to end the confrontation, which “devastated both sides.”
The diplomat also mentioned that negotiations mediated by Washington had reached an impasse, calling them in the past “unsuccessful or at least inconclusive.” At the same time, the Secretary of State noted President Trump’s readiness to continue working on a peaceful settlement “if conditions and factors change and this becomes possible.”
“This is the task – to find a solution that suits both sides. We have tried and will continue to try to find a compromise that will lead to results. And we are ready to play this role [посредника в конфликте]if the opportunity arises,” Rubio said.
Separately, the Secretary of State noted before the meeting that much of the meeting with Lavrov would not be made public, as this “undermines the opportunity to come to mutual understanding.” Rubio mentioned the US willingness to play a “constructive role” in ending the confrontation between Russia and Ukraine and expressed hope that “such an opportunity will present itself.” The United States is “the only country in the world,” he believes, that can help end the conflict.
The fighting has “largely prevented” Moscow and Washington from finding common ground on other issues, but that doesn't mean the White House isn't looking for other areas of potential cooperation with the Kremlin, the secretary of state said.
“We are the two largest countries on the planet with nuclear weapons. It would be reckless and irresponsible for us not to engage in dialogue. We must have a relationship with the Russian government, even despite differences,” Rubio explained.
At the same time, America is focused on Asia, even as it increases pressure on Iran, seeks ways to end the conflict between Russia and Ukraine and puts pressure on the Cuban government to achieve change, the secretary of state said.
The meeting itself, which lasted 35 minutes, was initiated by the American side, the Russian news agency RIA Novosti reports, citing diplomatic sources. The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that Lavrov brought information to his American counterpart about the “situation on the line of combat contact” and emphasized the inadmissibility of further support for Kyiv with weapons from European countries.
RTVI previously reported on how a new military plant in Texas spent two years producing defective ammunition destined for Ukraine, and how American experts assessed the production time of missiles for Patriot anti-aircraft missile systems on Ukrainian territory.
The Foreign Ministry statement also emphasizes that Lavrov “reaffirmed the Russian side’s readiness for a political and diplomatic resolution of the conflict” and commitment to the proposals that were put forward by the American side at the Putin-Trump summit in Anchorage (Alaska).
Both ministers also welcomed the resumption of full-fledged contacts between the space departments Roscosmos and NASA, and spoke in favor of the development of inter-parliamentary exchanges and ties in the field of culture, the Russian Foreign Ministry clarified. Attention was also paid to normalizing the operating conditions of the diplomatic missions of the two countries, the Russian Foreign Ministry added.
Let us remind you that the American ambassador to Russia has not been appointed for more than a year – after the completion of Lynn Tracy’s work in June 2025. Douglas Dykehouse is currently the US Chargé d'Affaires in Moscow. In Ukraine and more than 100 other countries there are also no representatives of Washington, as RTVI wrote about.
