US Secretary of State Marco Rubio expressed disappointment over the lack of progress in negotiations to end the war in Ukraine after meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on the edge of the ASEAN Summit in Kuala Lumpur.
Rubio spoke to reporters after the meeting and said he remained “frustrated” absence of movement towards the ceasefire, even though some thoughts were replaced during the discussion.
“There were some ideas that were expressed today, some aspects that have expressed us to take back the President for his consideration,” Rubio said.
“I don’t want to play,” he added, quoting “accelerating” Russian attacks on Ukraine.
Rubio stressed that while diplomacy requires “time and patience”, the United States longs for results.
“We are also frustrated that no more progress has been made,” Rubio said. “Hopefully … we will have more clarity about exactly the Russian position and priorities.”
Trump: “We’re not happy with Putin”
US President Donald Trump also expressed frustration with Putin’s behavior in the war. At the cabinet meeting this week Trump sharply criticized Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“Putin is not, he is not treated properly with human beings,” Trump said.
“We get a lot of b *******—– threw Putin on us … it turned out that it wasn’t insignificant.”
“We are not satisfied with Putin. I’m not happy with Putin, I can tell you now. Because they kill a lot of people. And many of them are his soldiers.”
Trump also said he would strongly consider the support of the new law on Russia’s sanctions to force Russian President Vladimir Putin to negotiate the end of the Ukrainian War.
Meeting Lavrov comes in the middle of growing tension
Thursday’s meeting in Malaysia was the second personal meeting between Rubius and Lavrov since Rubio joined office after their initial meeting in Riyadh in February. In recent months, they have also had several phone calls.
The Russian Foreign Ministry described the exchange as “factual and sincere” and noted that both parties discussed Ukraine, Syria and Iran. According to Moscow, both officials confirmed “Mutual obligation to find peaceful solutions to conflicts.”
(Tagstotranslate) Marco Rubio
