Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the Trump administration remains prepared to help negotiate an end to the Russia-Ukraine war, while acknowledging that any breakthrough will require persistence, changed conditions and an agreement both Moscow and Kyiv can accept.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
Secretary of State Marco Rubio renewed the Trump administration’s push for a negotiated end to the war in Ukraine on Thursday after meeting Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Manila, saying Washington is prepared to resume a diplomatic role despite previous talks failing to produce meaningful progress.
Rubio described the conflict as a “senseless war” and said both Russia and Ukraine should have strong reasons to stop a struggle that has devastated both countries. He cautioned, however, that there is no simple or immediate route to an agreement.
The secretary of state said earlier U.S.-mediated efforts had been “unsuccessful or at least unfruitful,” but maintained that President Donald Trump remains willing to pursue negotiations if circumstances have shifted enough to create a credible opening.
“That’s been the challenge, an end that both sides can accept. And 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,” Rubio told reporters.
The meeting between Rubio and Lavrov took place during the annual gathering of foreign ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. The Manila discussions have brought together senior diplomats confronting several major international crises, including the war in Ukraine, renewed fighting in the Middle East and escalating disputes in the South China Sea.
Lavrov did not respond at length to questions after meeting Rubio. Russia’s Foreign Ministry later said he had warned against continued weapons deliveries to Ukraine and accused European governments of pursuing Russia’s “strategic defeat.”
The ministry said Lavrov also reaffirmed Moscow’s readiness for “a political and diplomatic resolution of the conflict” and its commitment to understandings reached between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin during their summit in Alaska last year.
Rubio said the administration has not changed its policy on military assistance to Ukraine. American weapons transfers are continuing through NATO’s Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List initiative, commonly known as PURL.
“There’s been no change to our policy in that regard. We want a peace deal. We want the war to end,” Rubio said.
The renewed diplomatic effort comes after U.S. attempts to broker an agreement lost momentum when indirect negotiations stalled and the conflict with Iran became a dominant focus of American foreign policy. Fighting between Washington and Tehran intensified again after an interim ceasefire arrangement collapsed.
Ukraine, meanwhile, has made significant battlefield progress this year, but internal divisions among defense officials have threatened to complicate those gains. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has responded with a major government reorganization that has included changes among the country’s senior military leadership.
The ASEAN meetings have also been shaped by rising tensions in the Indo-Pacific.
Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong warned Thursday that China’s recent test launch of a missile from a nuclear-powered submarine had unsettled governments across the region. She said the Philippines and Pacific countries along the missile’s flight path had not received adequate notification.
“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 said during a university forum in Manila. “This is why Australia has described the test as provocative and destabilizing.”
China defended the launch as part of its annual military exercises and said countries in the region had received appropriate advance notice.
Rubio also met Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Wednesday and held separate discussions with Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar.
During his meeting with Wang, Rubio raised a new confrontation between Chinese and Philippine forces near a disputed shoal in the South China Sea. Beijing claims nearly the entire waterway, including areas also claimed by neighboring countries.
Rubio called the latest incident “escalatory” and warned that confrontations between the United States and China must be handled carefully because of the global consequences of a wider dispute.
“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.
China’s coast guard said Thursday that it had monitored, blocked and driven away two Philippine vessels after they ignored repeated Chinese warnings. Beijing described its conduct as lawful and professional and accused the Philippines of provocative actions that violated Chinese territorial claims.
Philippine officials did not immediately comment.
The Trump administration has repeatedly objected to China’s actions in the South China Sea, particularly when they affect smaller governments with competing maritime claims. The Philippines is the United States’ oldest treaty ally in Asia, while Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei also claim territory in the contested region.
ASEAN foreign ministers discussed the disputes Tuesday and welcomed progress in long-running negotiations with China over a proposed non-aggression agreement. The regional bloc and Beijing are seeking to complete the code of conduct this year.
The planned agreement is intended to reduce the risk that a confrontation in the South China Sea, one of the world’s most heavily traveled commercial routes, could escalate into a larger conflict involving the United States.
Against that broader diplomatic backdrop, Rubio’s meeting with Lavrov signaled that Washington is again testing whether conditions exist for progress on Ukraine. While no agreement emerged from the talks, Rubio made clear that the administration is prepared to continue searching for terms that could bring both sides to an acceptable settlement.
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