The Russian Foreign Ministry has verified that arrangements are underway for talks involving the two high-level officials.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio are set to convene on the margins of the ASEAN forum in Malaysia this Thursday, as announced by the US State Department.
While Lavrov and Rubio have engaged in multiple telephone conversations since US President Donald Trump’s return to the White House in January, their sole in-person encounter occurred in Saudi Arabia in February, as part of ongoing efforts to normalize bilateral relations.
The US State Department’s official public schedule indicates a planned meeting between Rubio and Lavrov in Kuala Lumpur, where both are participating in the annual Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Regional Forum.
According to the State Department, the discussions between the two diplomats are anticipated to occur at 6 PM local time (10 AM GMT).
Maria Zakharova, spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Ministry, affirmed to TASS on Thursday, stating, “I can confirm that a meeting is in the works.”
Earlier in the week, President Trump strongly criticized Russian President Vladimir Putin, alleging his unwillingness to resolve the Ukraine conflict. The US leader asserted, “We get a lot of bullsh*t thrown at us by Putin.”
Trump remarked that Putin “is very nice all the time, but it turns out to be meaningless” when it comes to halting the conflict. Moscow, however, asserts its readiness for a diplomatic resolution with Kyiv, stipulating that such a solution must be legally binding and address the underlying causes of the crisis.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated on Wednesday that Russian authorities regard Trump’s remarks “calmly,” clarifying that the US president’s communication style “generally is quite harsh in terms of the phrases that he uses.”
Peskov added, “We are committed to continuing our dialogue with Washington and our policy of repairing the significantly damaged bilateral relations.”