Rubio-Lavrov meet in Manila to test chances of reviving Ukraine talks

Marco Rubio and Sergey Lavrov met in Manila to discuss prospects for ending the war in Ukraine. The talks signalled a possible attempt to revive stalled diplomacy amid wider regional security strains.Image used for representational purposes onlyUS Secretary of State Marco Rubio met Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in the Philippines on Thursday for talks expected to cover the prospects of ending the war in Ukraine. The meeting took place on the sidelines of the annual gathering of foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Manila.Neither the US nor Russia immediately shared details of the meeting. The wider three-day closed-door discussions, which began on Tuesday, have centred on the war in the Middle East, the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, and tensions in the South China Sea, where a fresh clash broke out on Thursday.US efforts to help broker an end to the Russia-Ukraine war have slowed as indirect talks stalled and the conflict involving Iran moved to the forefront. Renewed strikes by Washington and Tehran have been intensifying after an interim ceasefire deal collapsed. Rubio told reporters in Manila on Wednesday that he planned to raise Ukraine with Lavrov and said the US remained open to helping end the conflict "if that opportunity presents itself".He said those efforts had "kind of fallen off a little bit over the last few months" but added that the meeting would explore whether there was a chance to restart talks. "We have to have a relationship with the Russian government, even though we have areas of disagreement," Rubio said, noting that the two countries are the largest nuclear-armed powers. Lavrov, speaking to reporters at the ASEAN meeting, said he would ask Rubio about recent statements by US President Donald Trump predicting that a settlement was getting close. "I will ask Marco Rubio about it tomorrow," Lavrov said. Expectations of renewed discussion on the war come at a time when Ukraine has made significant progress this year, even as differences among defence leaders have threatened to affect its efforts. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has also carried out a major government reshuffle, including changes in the top military leadership. Rubio said Ukraine would not be the only issue in his meeting with Lavrov and that he would also look for other areas where the US and Russia could cooperate.At the same meeting, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong renewed her country's concern over the recent test launch of a missile by the Chinese navy from a nuclear-powered submarine in the region. She said it "came with too little information and notification, including to the Philippines - over which the missile flew - and Pacific nations, near where the missile landed". Wong told a university forum in Manila on Thursday, "It comes in the context of a rapid military build-up of China's nuclear arsenal without the transparency or reassurance the region expects. This is why Australia has described the test as provocative and destabilizing." China defended the launch, saying it was part of annual exercises and that countries in the area had been given appropriate advance notice. Overall, the Manila meetings brought together several major issues at once, with Rubio and Lavrov discussing Ukraine and possible wider cooperation as ASEAN talks also focused on the Middle East, the South China Sea and regional security concerns over China's missile test.With PTI Inputs- EndsPublished By: India Today Web Desk Published On: Jul 23, 2026 11:52 IST