Overview
- U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio met Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Manila on Thursday, July 23, for a 35-minute discussion focused on the war in Ukraine.
- Lavrov told Russian media he would press Rubio about President Trump’s recent remarks on a quick settlement and reiterated Russia’s public readiness for a political-diplomatic resolution based on prior proposals.
- Rubio said the purpose was to discuss the conflict rather than to impose pressure and he emphasized that the Anchorage talks in August 2025 produced proposals but no binding agreement.
- On July 22 Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met U.S. envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff to push for stepped-up diplomacy and coordinate positions ahead of the Rubio–Lavrov talks.
- Broader negotiations remain fragile because three-way and multilateral talks were paused after Middle East escalations, and the Manila meeting could influence weapons flows and the pace of future mediation.