KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and his Russian counterpart will meet Thursday in Malaysia as tensions between the countries rise over Moscow’s increasing attacks on Ukraine and questions about whether Russia's leader is serious about a peace deal.
Rubio and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov are to see each other in Kuala Lumpur, where both men are attending the annual Association of Southeast Asian Nations Regional Forum, which brings together all 10 ASEAN members and their most important diplomatic partners, including Russia, China, Japan, South Korea, the Europeans and the U.S.
The meeting will be their second face-to-face encounter since Rubio took office, although they have spoken by phone several times. Their first meeting came in February in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, as the Trump administration sought to test both Russia and Ukraine on their willingness to make peace.
This one is set to take place shortly after the U.S. resumed some shipments of defensive weapons to Ukraine following a pause — ostensibly for the Pentagon to review domestic munitions stocks — that was cheered in Moscow.
The resumption comes as Russia fires escalating air attacks on Ukraine and as U.S. President Donald Trump has become increasingly frustrated with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“Putin is not, he’s not treating human beings right,” Trump said during a Cabinet meeting Tuesday, explaining the pause’s reversal. “It’s killing too many people. So we’re sending some defensive weapons to Ukraine, and I’ve approved that.”
Rubio was also seeing other foreign ministers, including many whose countries face tariffs set to be imposed on Aug. 1. The tariff threat could overshadow the top diplomat’s first official trip to Asia, just as the U.S. seeks to boost relations with Indo-Pacific nations to counter China’s growing influence in the region.
Rubio sought to assuage concerns as he held group talks with ASEAN foreign ministers.
“The Indo Pacific, the region, remains a focal point of U.S. foreign policy,” he told them. “When I hear in the news that perhaps the United States or the world might be distracted by events in other parts of the planet, I would say distraction is impossible, because it is our strong view and the reality that this century and the story of next 50 years will largely be written here in this region.”
“These are relationships and partnerships that we intend to continue to build on without seeking the approval or the permission of any other actor in the region of the world,” he said in an apparent reference to China.
Trump notified several countries on Monday and Wednesday that they will face higher tariffs if they don’t make trade deals with the U.S. Among them are eight of ASEAN's 10 members.
(Eileen Ng contributed to this report from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.)
http://accesswdun.com/article/2025/7/1292789/rubio-to-meet-russias-lavrov-with-ukraine-tensions-high