Lavrov and Rubio set to meet in New York on September 23, TASS reports
The two diplomats last met in July at the ASEAN summit in Manila, according to Modern.az
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Russia's foreign minister Sergei Lavrov and US secretary of state Marco Rubio are due to meet on September 23, TASS reports. The talks are expected on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.
Russian deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov said the meeting would be an opportunity for an intensive, detailed discussion of the Ukrainian crisis in its entirety, according to RIA Novosti, as reported by Voice of Emirates.
The two men have met several times this year. They held talks on Feb. 18 in Riyadh on restoring normal diplomatic mission operations and setting up technical teams, then followed up on Feb. 27 in Istanbul on embassy access and banking. On July 10 in Kuala Lumpur, Rubio conveyed President Trump's frustration at Russia's lack of flexibility, according to Fox News. The two last met in July at the ASEAN summit in Manila, where Lavrov said he had briefed Rubio on the situation in the areas where fighting is occurring, according to Modern.az.
The meeting comes as Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said Ukraine is ready for an unconditional ceasefire, ahead of a planned meeting with Trump in New York, and as the EU's foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas has called for tougher Russia sanctions to be renewed sooner and for more than 10 extra naval and air assets to be sent to the Red Sea.
A Lavrov-Rubio meeting signals potential diplomatic engagement on Russia, but set against the EU's sanctions push and Ukraine's openness to ceasefire talks, it reads as exploratory rather than a sign of imminent resolution. Markets have already priced in prolonged Russia tensions and sanctions risk, so a single bilateral meeting is likely to register as neutral unless it produces concrete outcomes.