Rubio to Meet Lavrov in New York Amid Trump’s Russia–Ukraine Peace Push

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio will meet Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Wednesday, amid the Trump administration’s renewed push to bring an end to the war in Ukraine.

The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Ukraine would be the central topic, adding that the two countries would also discuss cooperation within the United Nations, according to Kremlin-aligned newspaper Izvestia.

“As permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, Russia and the United States have enormous potential for developing cooperation. Unfortunately, that potential remains largely untapped,” the ministry said. “For a long time, our countries have been unable to find common ground on a number of sensitive and high-profile issues on the U.N. agenda. This further increases tensions within the organization.”

The U.S. State Department confirmed the meeting in Rubio’s public schedule.

Rubio met with Lavrov on July 10 on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit and conveyed U.S. President Donald Trump’s growing frustration with the lack of progress in negotiations to end the conflict.

Trump and Zelenskyy met on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday. During a bilateral press conference with Zelenskyy, Trump told reporters that Russian President Vladimir Putin was willing to meet to discuss a peace deal with Ukraine.

He added that he believed both Putin and Zelenskyy wanted to end the war.

Trump said in mid September that he had asked Zelenskyy to stop attacking Russian refining facilities because the strikes were pushing diesel prices to record highs.

The U.S. president said on Monday that Russia had lost control of its diesel industry because of the war.

“A large number of their Diesel refineries have been blown up and are, at least temporarily, out of commission,” he wrote on social media. “This ridiculous and never ending War with Ukraine must be ended.”

Zelenskyy responded that Ukraine was prepared to reciprocate if Russia stopped attacking Ukrainian energy facilities, critical infrastructure, and food exports.

Trump said during his speech to the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday that his administration was working closely with Moscow and Kyiv to resolve the ongoing war, which has lasted more than four years. He also suggested that the war between Russia and Ukraine could be over sooner than people think.

After Trump’s speech and meeting with Zelenskyy, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday that Putin was already happy to meet with the U.S. president, but there were currently no specifics on the time and place.

“Presidents Putin and Trump always emphasize in their telephone conversations their readiness to hold another meeting at some point, if necessary,” Peskov said, according to Russian state-run news agency TASS.

He also said that Russia remains open to negotiations and reiterated the Kremlin’s long-held position that if Zelenskyy wishes to meet with Putin, the Ukrainian leader is welcome to visit Moscow.

“He will be provided with security guarantees. And he knows perfectly well what decisions need to be made,” Peskov said.

Zelenskyy has long said that he is willing to meet with Putin, but has rejected the notion of meeting in Moscow, arguing that such talks should take place on neutral ground.

Timothy Frudd and Tom Ozimek contributed to this report.