A phone call between US and Russian officials signals improved relations after years of tension stemming from the conflict in Ukraine.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov spoke by phone on Saturday as both Washington and Moscow aim to rebuild their relationship and push forward with negotiations for a ceasefire in Ukraine.
According to a statement released by the U.S. State Department, Rubio and Lavrov talked about actions to re-establish direct lines of communication between the two nations.
“Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke today with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. [They] discussed next steps to follow up on recent meetings in Saudi Arabia and agreed to continue working towards restoring communication between the United States and Russia,” the statement said.
The phone call comes after high-level discussions in Saudi Arabia on February 18th, where Washington and Moscow agreed to assign teams to find solutions for the Ukraine conflict, reopen embassy operations, and tackle other points of disagreement in their relationship. Following this, more talks occurred in Istanbul, focusing on the financial aspects of diplomacy and a proposal from Moscow to restart direct flights between Russia and the U.S.
During the call, Rubio also updated Lavrov on U.S. military actions against Houthi fighters in Yemen, emphasizing that Houthi attacks in the Red Sea “will not be tolerated.” President Donald Trump stated on Truth Social on Saturday that the U.S. had initiated military action against the group, citing its “unrelenting campaign of piracy, violence, and terrorism against American and other ships, aircraft, and drones.”
Details of the U.S.-Russia call were not further elaborated. Following discussions with U.S. officials on March 11th in Saudi Arabia, Kiev agreed to a 30-day ceasefire. Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, traveled to Moscow on Thursday to present Russian President Vladimir Putin with the specifics of the proposal.
Putin has, in principle, welcomed the ceasefire but has requested that several issues be addressed before it can be implemented, including the situation of Ukrainian forces currently surrounded in Russia’s Kursk Region. While details of Witkoff’s meeting with Putin remain undisclosed, Trump suggested progress, mentioning that the White House had received “some pretty good news” regarding the ceasefire efforts and that U.S.-Russia meetings in recent days have been “very productive.”