US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov held talks in Manila on Thursday, July 23, in another attempt to revive diplomatic efforts over Russia’s war against Ukraine – but the meeting produced no visible breakthrough.
The roughly 35-minute meeting took place on the sidelines of an Association of Southeast Asian Nations gathering in the Philippines, amid stalled US-led efforts to find a negotiated end to the war and continued Russian attacks on Ukrainian cities.
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Speaking afterward, Rubio described the discussion with Lavrov as frank but made clear that Washington did not expect a single meeting to resolve the conflict.
The US remains prepared to play a constructive role in ending what Rubio called a “senseless war,” but previous proposals have failed to produce an agreement acceptable to both Kyiv and Moscow.
Rubio indicated that Washington now believes a different diplomatic approach may be required.
“We’ll have to find new suggestions and new ideas,” Rubio told reporters, adding that earlier proposals rejected by Ukraine were unlikely to become more acceptable to Kyiv now.
The comments appear to further distance Washington from Moscow’s claim that US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin reached an understanding on the framework for ending the war during their August 2025 summit in Alaska.
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The Kremlin has repeatedly referred to the Alaska discussions as the basis for a settlement. US officials, including Rubio, have disputed Moscow’s characterization of what was agreed.
Moscow Again Targets Western Arms Supplies
Russia used Thursday’s meeting to renew its objections to continued Western military support for Ukraine.
According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, Lavrov told Rubio that Moscow opposed further US weapons supplies to Kyiv and accused European governments of pursuing policies aimed at Russia’s “strategic defeat.”
Rubio, however, indicated that Washington’s policy had not changed.
Lavrov also reiterated Russia’s stated readiness for a political settlement while continuing to refer to the Alaska discussions between Trump and Putin.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov played down expectations surrounding the Rubio-Lavrov talks, indicating Moscow was not particularly optimistic about immediate results.
Rubio Points to Russia’s Mounting Losses
Rubio stressed that both countries have reasons to seek an end to the fighting, pointing to the enormous human cost of Russia’s invasion.
According to Rubio, Russia is losing roughly 5,000 to 6,000 soldiers per week, while Ukraine has suffered heavily from continued Russian strikes, including attacks on Kyiv and civilian casualties.
The central problem, according to the secretary of state, remains finding terms that Ukraine could accept without Moscow rejecting them – and vice versa. Rubio specifically referred to Russian strikes on Kyiv while describing the war as increasingly bloody and costly.
Despite the lack of progress in Manila, Rubio maintained that Trump remains interested in pursuing negotiations and that Washington would continue exploring possible formulas for ending the war.
He also cautioned against expecting rapid results from high-level diplomatic encounters, stressing that any serious agreement would require much broader negotiations.
Asked about the possibility of another meeting between Trump and President Volodymyr Zelensky, Rubio noted that US officials remain in frequent contact with Kyiv and have met Ukrainian representatives more often than their Russian counterparts.
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