Lavrov, Rubio to Meet in Manila as Kremlin Hardens Ukraine Position

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will hold their first face-to-face meeting since September on July 23 in Manila, where ASEAN foreign ministers are gathering for a regional forum.

The talks are expected to focus on Russia’s war against Ukraine and the so-called Anchorage agreements, which Moscow claims were reached between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump.

Lavrov said Russia believes Washington has not abandoned its own proposals discussed during the talks.

“We proceed from the fact that, at least for now, our American colleagues have not rejected their own proposals that were made and are now well known to everyone,” Lavrov said, according to Russian state media RIA-Novosti.

He added that he plans to ask Rubio about Trump’s recent claims that a settlement in Ukraine is closer than before.

Rubio confirmed the meeting, saying the United States and Russia, as the world’s largest nuclear powers, cannot stop communicating.

“The war in Ukraine has in many ways impeded the ability of Russia and the United States to find areas of agreement on other topics. That doesn’t mean we won’t seek to find other areas of potential cooperation,” Rubio said on Wednesday during a press briefing in the US State Department.

Moscow drops idea of territorial swap

Ahead of the talks, the Kremlin appears to be taking a tougher stance on Ukraine.

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Rutte Says Trump Aides Working on Ukraine Peace Plan

The NATO chief said senior US officials remain active in diplomatic efforts and praised Washington’s recent actions in the Middle East.

Russia has abandoned the idea of a “territorial swap” with Kyiv and now plans to keep parts of Ukraine’s Sumy and Kharkiv regions that it has occupied as a buffer zone, Bloomberg reported, citing sources close to the Kremlin.

The shift comes as Putin continues to demand control over Ukrainian territory captured by Russian forces. According to Bloomberg’s sources, the Russian leader still believes Moscow can seize the entire Donbas by the end of 2026, a goal military officials reportedly promised him.

However, sources in Russia’s Defense Ministry reportedly consider that timeline unrealistic and believe such an operation could take until 2027.

Lavrov accuses US of breaking commitments

Lavrov has previously accused Washington of violating the Anchorage agreements and said Moscow does not intend to stop the war along the current front line.

He also suggested that the Alaska talks may have been a tactic to buy time for Ukraine to receive more weapons.

“I don’t even want to suspect that Alaska, like Europe’s actions, was designed to win time to rearm the Kyiv regime,” Lavrov said, according to Interfax. “I don’t even want to think about it. But in reality, things turned out the way they did.”

Lavrov has also said Russia no longer considers the United States an “objective mediator” and accused Washington of increasing sanctions pressure on Moscow.