“The meeting will be useful in any case. It’s good to ask questions and get answers,” S. Lavrov told reporters on Wednesday.
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He stated that the meeting would take place on Thursday morning in the Philippine capital, on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) foreign ministers’ meeting.
Moscow condemned Washington’s new strikes on its important ally, Iran.
US-led talks to end the war in Ukraine have stalled, with attention shifting to the Middle East, and Russia continuing to insist on strict demands for Ukraine to cede its territories.
M. Rubio, who said he had a brief conversation with S. Lavrov during a gala dinner, when asked if he intended to pressure the Russian minister on the issue, told reporters in Manila that they would discuss Ukraine on Thursday.
“I believe that the war in Ukraine has in many ways prevented Russia and the United States from finding areas of agreement on other topics,” he said. “That doesn’t mean we won’t seek to find other areas of potential cooperation.”
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“But at the same time (…) we would like this war to end,” he said. “Therefore, we will raise this, and (…) the US remains open and ready to play a constructive role in ending this war.”
US President Donald Trump supported Ukraine’s campaign of long-range retaliatory strikes on Russian energy facilities as an escalation that could lead to the end of the war.
These strikes caused fuel shortages throughout Russia – one of the world’s largest oil producers.
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