Monday, 27 July 2026, 23:47
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Thursday in Manila, Philippines, to explore renewed U.S. efforts to broker an end to the war in Ukraine. The high-stakes meeting occurred on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) foreign ministers' gathering. The meeting had been arranged the previous day, with Lavrov confirming the sit-down after a Russia-ASEAN ministerial meeting and Rubio confirming his focus on potential paths to ending the war.
Rubio acknowledged that U.S. mediation efforts had "fallen off a little bit over the last few months" due to the escalating Iran conflict. However, he emphasized the importance of maintaining dialogue with Russia, the world's second-largest nuclear power. "We have to have a relationship with the Russian government, even though we have areas of disagreement," Rubio told reporters in Manila.
The Russian Foreign Ministry reported that Lavrov briefed Rubio on "the real situation along the line of contact" and stressed "the unacceptability of further arming" Ukraine, criticizing European countries for seeking a "strategic defeat" for Russia. Lavrov reiterated Russia's readiness for a political resolution, citing agreements from a previous Putin-Trump summit in Alaska. Lavrov also said he planned to press Rubio about recent comments by U.S. President Donald Trump, who claimed earlier this month that a peace agreement in Ukraine was "closer than people realize." The Russian foreign minister added that Moscow continues to operate under the assumption that U.S. officials "have not yet backtracked on their own proposals" made during last year's presidential summit in Alaska.
Rubio hinted that nuclear arms control could be among the topics discussed with Lavrov. "Obviously, the war in Ukraine, I think, has, in many ways, impeded the ability of Russia and the United States to find areas of agreement on other topics," Rubio said. "That doesn't mean we won't seek to find other areas of potential cooperation," the secretary of state said, adding that he planned to discuss "other stuff" with Lavrov.
After the meeting, which lasted just 35 minutes, Rubio described the talks as "good" and "frank" but said fresh proposals would be needed after previous peace ideas failed. He declined to disclose details. "The United States...is prepared to play a constructive role in bringing about an end to a senseless war," Rubio said when pressed by RFE/RL. Asked whether the meeting had produced any breakthrough, Rubio dismissed expectations of rapid progress. "You think we settled the war in Ukraine in our 30 minutes here in Asia? That's not the way it works," he said. Asked later by RFE/RL about when Russia will stop the war, Lavrov appeared to either ignore the question or not hear it.
Rubio said Russia was losing "upwards of 5,000 to 6,000 soldiers a week" and noted Ukraine had also paid "a tremendous price," citing civilian deaths and increased strikes on Kyiv. Rubio said both Russia and Ukraine had strong incentives to end the war but he said the main obstacle was finding terms acceptable to both sides. "That's been the challenge: an end that both sides can accept," he said.
Rubio also said that the United States will be able to determine within weeks whether Russia is serious about peace. He cautioned that a settlement would require extensive negotiations rather than a single meeting. "That's not going to happen at a press conference. That's not going to happen in one meeting here in the Philippines," he said.
Rubio said Trump remained focused on ending the conflict because "people stop dying" and so Ukraine could rebuild while young Russian soldiers were no longer being killed. "He thinks it's a stupid war. He thinks it's a senseless war," Rubio said. Asked by RFE/RL whether Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy could meet soon, Rubio said US officials remained in frequent contact with Kyiv and had met Ukrainian representatives more often than Russian officials.
Responding to a question about whether Lavrov had urged Washington to halt arms supplies to Ukraine, Rubio said there had been no change in US policy, saying the United States continued to sell weapons through NATO mechanisms while simultaneously pursuing diplomacy. Rubio noted specifically the Prioritised Ukraine Requirements List (PURL) initiative, a NATO scheme through which allies can purchase defense equipment from the US that is then sent on to Ukraine. Launched in July 2025, PURL has seen allies fund more than $6 billion of military equipment for Kyiv. "We sell arms via PURL, which is an initiative we have through NATO and that's what we're involved in. There's been no change to our policy in that regard," Rubio told reporters. "We want the war to end. We're prepared to play whatever positive role we can to end the war." Washington has been the largest single supplier of weaponry to Kyiv since the 2022 invasion, but that pipeline has slowed since Trump returned to the White House, though supplies continue to be routed via European allies -- a situation that irks Moscow.
Rubio said he had not discussed Russia's war in Ukraine with Wang Yi during separate talks because the two sides had "a lot of other stuff to talk about."
On the battlefield, Ukrainian troops have battled Russian forces to a standstill, with Russian units grinding forward at a glacial pace, with eyewatering casualties. A long-range drone campaign by Ukraine has choked Russian gasoline refineries, and Russia continues to ravage Ukrainian cities with ballistic missiles and drones. Among other things, Russia continues to insist on full control of the occupied parts of Ukraine's east, while Kyiv has rejected territorial concessions. Recent days have seen continued bloodshed: three people were killed and dozens injured in Pavlohrad in eastern Ukraine after a Russian aerial bomb attack on a food processing plant, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced. Ukraine's air force said Russian forces launched a ballistic missile, five cruise missiles, and 168 attack drones overnight, with air defenses downing two Kh-59/69 cruise missiles and 154 drones. In return, Ukrainian strikes killed four people across Russia and occupied territories: two in Crimea, a three-year-old boy in Voronezh after a drone crashed into a house, and one in the Belgorod region. Earlier this month, President Trump signaled support for Ukraine's long-range strikes against Russian energy infrastructure, calling it "an escalation that can help lead to an end" during the 2026 NATO summit in Ankara.
In further escalation, Ukraine's new military chief Mykhailo Drapatyi, appointed on Wednesday by President Zelenskyy, pledged to expand offensive operations, including missions behind enemy lines. "Difficult work lies ahead, so we will proceed without loud promises, with responsibility for our decisions and respect for the people who are holding the front line and helping Ukraine endure," Drapatyi said in a Facebook post. Ukraine claims to have recaptured 700 square km of its territory this year. Meanwhile, Ukrainian strikes hit warehouses in southern Russia belonging to Russian online retailer Wildberries for the second time this week, injuring several people, according to the company's boss. Zelenskyy said Ukrainian drones hit logistics hubs, an oil depot, a tanker, and four cargo ships from Russia's "shadow fleet" in the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov. Russia's Defence Ministry countered by claiming attacks on Ukrainian cargo ships and storage facilities, as well as the capture of the settlements of Artilne in Kharkiv region and Blahodatne in Zaporizhzhia region. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said he did not think Drapatyi's appointment would change the frontline situation.
Both Moscow and Kyiv have intensified air strikes, with Russia increasingly using ballistic missiles that Ukraine has struggled to intercept amid shortages of Patriot air defence systems. Zelenskyy on Wednesday discussed licences for Patriot air defence system production with visiting U.S. Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker, describing more Patriot interceptors as a "critical priority."
Rubio said on July 23 that ending Russia's full-scale war would require "new ideas" to reach a peace agreement, following talks with Lavrov. "If, when peace comes, it'll be because of some new idea and some new concepts, and we're prepared to offer some of those in the right setting and form if the opportunity presents itself and the conditions are right," Rubio said. "We're prepared to play that role in a positive way."
He added, "We've tried and we'll continue to try to see if we can, you know, find a middle ground that brings this about. And we're prepared to play that role if the opportunity presents itself."
Separately, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reiterated that his priority is finding a way to get back to negotiations.
Russia's Foreign Ministry said Lavrov again demanded that the U.S. halt weapons supplies to Ukraine. He also claimed that Moscow was ready for a diplomatic settlement of its war against Ukraine, saying any agreement should be based on the "understandings" reached by Putin and Trump during the Alaska summit last August. The so-called "Alaska understanding" refers to Moscow's request that Washington pressure Ukraine to withdraw completely from Donbas, one person familiar with the Alaska discussions previously told the Kyiv Independent. The demand -- which would involve Ukrainian forces giving up territory it currently controls -- is a non-starter for Kyiv.
Rubio and other U.S. officials have repeatedly denied that any such agreement was reached.
Rubio said that ending the war would require new proposals, arguing that previous ideas had been unacceptable to Ukraine and would likely be even less acceptable now. "We'll have to find new suggestions and new ideas," Rubio told reporters. "Certainly that one was not acceptable to Ukraine at the time, and I don't think it's acceptable to them now either. In fact, it's probably less acceptable to them."
Rubio alluded to how U.S.-mediated talks have stalled, calling them "unsuccessful or at least unfruitful" in the past but insisted that President Donald Trump was committed to the work "if conditions and factors have changed to make that possible."
Rubio said the U.S. is focused on Asia even as it steps up fighting with Iran, seeks a pathway to end Russia's war in Ukraine and pressures the Cuban government to make changes. "There's always going to be a concern that America is so focused on one place that it can't focus on another," Rubio told reporters. But he said the U.S. remains "engaged in Asia every single day," citing strong partnerships and economic ties across the region.
Rubio also discussed the Iran conflict, saying "The price will continue to get higher every single night until they come to their senses." He insisted Tehran is "begging" for talks but Trump does not see the use in responding because "Iran is clearly not ready to make a deal, at least not one they're willing to live by." Trump has warned Iran that the U.S. will destroy one Iranian bridge or power plant each time Iran shoots at a ship in the Strait of Hormuz. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi responded by saying the country's defense doctrine was an "eye for an eye." "The president's policy is a head for an eye," Rubio said. "They will pay a very heavy price for the things they're doing."
Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong renewed her country's alarm over the Chinese navy's recent test-launch of a missile from a nuclear-powered submarine in the region, saying the lack of notification to the Philippines and Pacific nations where the missile flew over and landed was destabilizing. "It comes in the context of a rapid military build-up of China's nuclear arsenal without the transparency or reassurance the region expects," Wong told a university forum in Manila on Thursday. "This is why Australia has described the test as provocative and destabilizing." China has defended its actions, saying the launch was part of annual exercises and that it gave countries in the area appropriate notice in advance.
Rubio had a long meeting Wednesday with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi. Rubio told reporters that he and Wang discussed a new altercation this week between Chinese and Filipino forces in a disputed shoal in the South China Sea, which Beijing claims virtually in its entirety. Rubio called the incident "escalatory." "Those need to be managed very carefully, because obviously, a conflict -- be it economic or otherwise -- between the U.S. and China would have a dramatic global impact," Rubio said. He also said they talked a lot about Chinese leader Xi Jinping's planned trip in September, noting he believes Xi will have a "very positive visit when he comes to Washington."
The renewed diplomatic push comes as Ukraine has made significant battlefield progress this year but also faces a change in military leadership. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy appointed Mykhailo Drapatyi as the new commander of Ukraine's armed forces on Wednesday. Drapatyi pledged to "continue and intensify offensive operations in all domains" and expand missions behind enemy lines. "Difficult work lies ahead, so we will proceed without loud promises, with responsibility for our decisions and respect for the people who are holding the front line and helping Ukraine endure," he said. Ukraine claims to have recaptured 700 square km of territory this year. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov dismissed the appointment, saying it would not change the frontline situation.
The ASEAN talks also focused on the resurgent Middle East war and the South China Sea, where a new clash between Chinese and Filipino forces occurred Thursday. Rubio called the incident "escalatory" and stressed the need for careful management to avoid a global conflict.
Rubio also met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar. Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong criticized China's recent missile test-launch from a nuclear-powered submarine as "provocative and destabilizing."
Meanwhile, Bloomberg reported that Russia has abandoned plans to return occupied territories to Ukraine and considers the informal agreements reached at the Anchorage summit between Putin and Trump to have collapsed. This hardening of Moscow's stance further complicates peace prospects.
While the meeting took place in Manila, the outcomes have implications for California's diverse communities, including Ukrainian-American populations in cities like Sacramento and Los Angeles. California's tech and aerospace sectors may also be affected by any shifts in U.S.-Russia space cooperation, as discussed by the ministers regarding NASA and Roscosmos contacts.
U.S.-Russia relations have been strained since Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Previous peace talks stalled in 2023, and the U.S. shifted focus to the Iran conflict after a ceasefire deal collapsed. The Alaska summit between Putin and Trump last year laid groundwork for potential agreements, but progress has been limited. Since returning to the White House last year, Trump has tried to broker a peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine. But U.S.-brokered talks to end the war in Ukraine have stalled since Trump ordered attacks on Iran in late February. Bloomberg reported Wednesday that President Vladimir Putin has hardened his stance on peace negotiations with Ukraine amid continuing long-range Ukrainian attacks. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov dismissed the report as "speculation." When asked about the Lavrov-Rubio meeting, Peskov also said Moscow was not overly optimistic about the talks.
The Rubio-Lavrov meeting signals a potential reopening of diplomatic channels, though significant obstacles remain. Both sides expressed willingness to discuss ending the war, but Russia's conditions and Ukraine's internal challenges complicate prospects. The coming weeks will reveal whether this dialogue can translate into tangible progress.
