U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is preparing to meet Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov on Thursday, 23 October, according to reports citing U.S. officials.
The prospective encounter would sit within a wider diplomatic track aimed at arranging a meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. The Kremlin said last week that Rubio and Lavrov would speak in the coming days to help set terms for a leaders’ summit, with Budapest floated by Washington as a possible location. Timing remains contingent on preparatory talks.
Ryabkov indicated that any Rubio–Lavrov talks would address Russia’s war against Ukraine, bilateral relations and elements of the economic agenda. He reiterated that no decision had been taken on where the ministers might meet. Russian state media also flagged a preparatory phone call ahead of any in-person meeting.
The expected ministerial contact follows a period of intensified U.S.–Russia and U.S.–Ukraine diplomacy. On Friday, President Trump met Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Washington. According to sources cited by Reuters, Trump urged Kyiv to consider territorial concessions as part of a ceasefire formula tied to current front lines—an idea Ukraine opposes. The report also pointed to prospective U.S.–Russia engagements in the weeks ahead.
Trump and Putin held a phone call on 16 October, after which the U.S. president said he expected to meet Putin in Budapest. Moscow said ministerial-level discussions would be used to shape any leaders’ encounter. No date has been announced.
Rubio and Lavrov have met or spoken several times this year in attempts to scope possible steps toward ending the war and stabilising the bilateral channel. In July, the pair held a 50-minute discussion on the margins of the ASEAN foreign ministers’ meeting in Kuala Lumpur, which Rubio described as “frank”. Earlier in the year, the Secretary of State said any Trump–Putin meeting would depend on clear prospects for progress on Ukraine.
Officials in Moscow have framed a Rubio–Lavrov session as covering a broad agenda. Ryabkov said topics would include what Russia calls its “special military operation” and Western military assistance to Ukraine, alongside bilateral issues and economic matters. He added that work was continuing “under consideration” regarding time and place.
Kyiv is monitoring the channel closely. Zelenskyy has signalled he would join a potential Trump–Putin summit in Hungary if invited, while European officials have stressed that any settlement must reflect Ukraine’s interests and international law. Against that backdrop, a Rubio–Lavrov meeting this week would be seen as another test of whether working-level diplomacy can produce a framework acceptable to all sides.
If confirmed, agon 23 October would mark the latest effort to test whether ministerial-level contacts can narrow gaps on security, political and economic questions that have accumulated since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Image source: report.az
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