Lavrov and Rubio to meet in Malaysia – Washington

The Russian Foreign Ministry has confirmed that preparations are being made for talks between the two diplomats

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will meet on the sidelines of the ASEAN forum in Malaysia on Thursday, the US State Department has announced.

Lavrov and Rubio have talked several times by phone since US President Donald Trump returned to the White House in January, but have met in person just once – in Saudi Arabia in February – as part of contacts aimed at normalizing relations between the two countries.

The public schedule on the State Department’s website listed a meeting between Rubio and Lavrov scheduled for Kuala Lumpur, where both are attending the annual Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Regional Forum.

Talks between the two diplomats are expected to take place at 6pm local time (10am GMT), according to the State Department.

"I can confirm that a meeting is in the works,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told TASS on Thursday.

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Earlier this week, Trump lashed out at Russian President Vladimir Putin, accusing him of being unwilling to settle the Ukraine conflict. “We get a lot of bullsh*t thrown at us by Putin,” the US leader claimed.

Putin “is very nice all the time, but it turns out to be meaningless” in terms of ending the fighting, Trump said. Moscow maintains that it is ready for a diplomatic solution with Kiev, but insists that it should be legally binding and address the root causes of the crisis.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday that the Russian authorities treat Trump’s comments “calmly,” explaining that the US president’s style “generally is quite harsh in terms of the phrases that he uses.”

“We are committed to continuing our dialogue with Washington and our policy of repairing the significantly damaged bilateral relations,” Peskov noted.