‘Echoed what Trump said’: US ‘frustrated’ over lack of progress on Ukraine, Rubio says after ‘frank talks’ with Lavrov

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Thursday (Jul 10) expressed his “disappointment and frustration” to his Russian counterpart over the lack of progress in resolving the conflict with Ukraine. He added that the US and Russia have exchanged new ideas for Ukraine peace talks. Rubio made the remarks while talking to reporters after a meeting with Sergei Lavrov on the sidelines of the ASEAN gathering in Malaysia.

“I echoed what the president (Donald Trump) said, both a disappointment and frustration at the lack of progress,” Rubio said.

Rubio added that Lavrov shared a “new idea” on Ukraine during their meeting. “It’s not a new approach. It’s a new idea or a new concept that I'll take back to the president (Donald Trump) to discuss,” he said, cautioning it was not something that “automatically leads to peace, but it could potentially open the door to a path.”

The meeting happened hours after Moscow’s armed forces struck Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, with missiles and drones. Following the massive attack, the Kremlin said that it was still open to more ceasefire talks.

Following the meeting between Rubio and Lavrov in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday, Russia’s foreign ministry said that the two officials had a “frank exchange” of views on Ukraine war.

“A substantive and frank exchange of views took place on the settlement of the situation in Ukraine,” Moscow’s foreign ministry said in a statement. It added that the two diplomats also talked about “restoration of Russian-American economic and humanitarian cooperation.”

Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, during the two-day Ukraine Recovery Conference in Rome, urged politicians and businesses to boost defence investments against Russia.

Speaking at the global conference aimed at mobilising support and investment for his nation as it enters the fourth year since Russia’s invasion in 2022, Zelensky said, “This is what we must focus on first – we must stop Russian drones and missiles. This means more air defence supplies and investments in interceptor drones, air defence systems, and missiles.”

“I urge all our partners – increase your investments. When Russia increases its attacks, we cannot have a shortage of funding.”