‘Positive trend’ in US-Russia ties remains despite Washington’s ‘zigzag’ policy, Moscow says.Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio have met again at the ASEAN foreign ministers’ meeting in Malaysia’s Kuala Lumpur, according to Russia’s state-run TASS agency, with the war in Ukraine the key focus.
The conversation followed a longer 50-minute meeting between the two top diplomats the previous day.
While no details have yet emerged from Friday’s exchange, Rubio told reporters after Thursday’s talks that the two sides had discussed a possible “new and different approach” to reviving peace efforts over Ukraine.
“I wouldn’t characterise it as something that guarantees peace,” he said, “but it’s a concept that I’ll take back to the president.”
Lavrov said on Friday that he set out the Kremlin’s position on settling the war. “We discussed Ukraine. We confirmed the position that President [Vladimir] Putin had outlined, including in his July 3 conversation with President [Donald] Trump,” Lavrov told Russian media on the sidelines of the ASEAN gathering.
Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement that the diplomats held a “substantive and frank exchange” of views on Ukraine, as well as on Iran, Syria and broader global issues.
The meeting marked a rare moment of direct engagement between Washington and Moscow as bilateral relations remain fraught. However, Russian officials downplayed suggestions that ties were deteriorating.
A group photo at the 58th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) foreign ministers’ meetings in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on July 10, 2025 [Hasnoor Hussain/EPA].
“I do not agree t …
