U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, answering questions from reporters ahead of a trip to occupied Palestine, said the Washington administration was willing to meet with Russian officials if it would help resolve the Ukraine conflict.
“We still want to meet with the Russians,” he said. “We had a good phone conversation with (Russian) Foreign Minister (Sergei) Lavrov. We will follow up on it,” the top US diplomat added. “We are always interested in engaging if there is an opportunity to achieve peace,” Rubio said.
Commenting on the latest US sanctions on Russia’s largest oil companies, Lukoil and Rosneft, the US Secretary of State said: “I think the president has said repeatedly in recent months that if we don’t make progress on a peace deal, at some point we’re going to have to do something. Today was the day the president decided he was going to do something.”
On October 21, Foreign Minister Lavrov said Russia’s position had not changed compared to the understanding reached at the Alaska summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump that a lasting and sustainable peace is needed rather than an immediate ceasefire that would not resolve anything. Russia’s top diplomat said he reiterated this to Rubio in a phone conversation on October 20.
MNA/