Rubio and Lavrov meet in the Philippines

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov met on Friday, April 18, in the Philippines. The conversation lasted approximately half an hour and was the fourth bilateral meeting between the two officials since early 2025.

According to a U.S. State Department statement, the talks focused on U.S.-Russia relations and the need to end Russia's war in Ukraine.

The Russian Foreign Ministry, in its statement, said that Lavrov informed Rubio about the “real situation on the contact line” and stressed that further arming of Ukraine is unacceptable. Lavrov also pointed to the “destabilizing policy of European countries.”

The statement said Lavrov reaffirmed Russia's readiness for a political and diplomatic resolution of the conflict. He also expressed support for proposals put forward by the U.S. side during talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump in Alaska last August. According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, the Russian leader agreed to those proposals.