Negotiations are not over: Lavrov and Rubio discussed new proposals on Ukraine

Moscow and Washington will continue negotiations despite Donald Trump's threats to impose sanctions against Russia. According to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, after meeting with Sergey Lavrov in Kuala Lumpur, the parties discussed new proposals for a settlement in Ukraine. In the same place, in the capital of Malaysia, a meeting of the foreign ministers of the ASEAN countries was held. Cooperation with them is deepening: the Thai Foreign Ministry told Izvestia that they expect to expand trade with the Russian Federation. Moscow and the states of the region are discussing a program for the development of relations for 2026-2030. About how Asian countries are becoming a place to discuss Europe's problems — in the Izvestia article.

How did the talks between Sergey Lavrov and Marco Rubio end?

Russia and the United States have confirmed their mutual commitment to finding peaceful solutions to conflict situations, the Russian Foreign Ministry said following a meeting between Sergey Lavrov and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio. The talks took place during the ASEAN Council of Foreign Ministers in Kuala Lumpur.

"As a follow-up to the agreements reached by the presidents of Russia and the United States, including during their last telephone conversation on July 3, a thorough clock check was carried out on the entire range of issues on the bilateral agenda and the situation in the world. A substantive and frank exchange of views took place on the settlement of the situation around Ukraine, the situation around Iran and Syria, as well as a number of other international issues," the Russian ministry said.

Rubio said he had discussed with Lavrov "some ideas" about what a roadmap for ending the Ukrainian conflict might look like. He noted that the United States is interested in a clear plan for its settlement, and proposals on this issue will be submitted to Donald Trump.

The conversation with the head of Russian diplomacy was "productive, constructive and frank, and there is hope that it will lead to progress," Rubio said, answering a question from Izvestia correspondent Nikolai Ivanov.

At the same time, the United States says it is "disappointed" by the lack of progress on Ukraine. But they are not going to abandon Kiev's support. A number of Washington's partners in Europe have Patriot air defense systems necessary for Ukraine, and Washington expects to ensure their transfer to the Armed Forces.

The previous personal meeting between Lavrov and Rubio took place in February in Riyadh. The politicians also talked to each other on the phone several times. Earlier, President Trump said he did not rule out the introduction of new sanctions against Moscow, which he had previously refrained from. The United States also promised to resume arms supplies to Ukraine.

There are two reasons for the slowdown in the negotiation process between the Russian Federation and the United States. First, Washington's attention in recent weeks has been focused on the Israeli—Iranian confrontation and the approval of a "big, beautiful bill" on government spending, providing for tax cuts and an increase in the national debt ceiling. These two events pushed other topics into the background, and the Americans redirected not only attention, but also personnel, Ivan Loshkarev, associate professor of the Department of Political Theory at MGIMO of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, told Izvestia.

— The second reason is that Kiev is still not ready for negotiations in principle, prefers to maneuver between Americans and Europeans, to wait for possible changes in the political life of the United States. In particular, the Ukrainian side benefits from Trump's slow drift towards the ideological positions of the neoconservative Republicans, whose concept of "peace through force" means, first of all, the ability to use force at any time, the expert said.

Russia proceeds from two assumptions. Firstly, the situation on the line of contact is favorable: there is a gradual offensive in most directions. Ukraine is still able to replenish its personnel and weapons shortages, but it is only a matter of time before this situation changes. Secondly, given the military situation, it is far from certain that negotiations will have to be completed with this particular composition of the Ukrainian leadership. So negotiating efforts may be premature for now.

Kiev hopes to impose its own pace of fighting on Moscow: The Ukrainian Armed Forces are slowly retreating, delaying the offensive due to fighting in populated areas, mining territories and building defensive structures. If the pace of the Russian offensive is slow, the Ukrainian side will be able to hold out long enough to reassemble the Western coalition in its support and expand the conflict zone, for example, at the expense of Transnistria, Loshkarev admits.

With whom Sergey Lavrov held meetings in Kuala Lumpur

The ASEAN Council of Foreign Ministers is taking place in Kuala Lumpur from July 8 to 11. The Malaysian capital welcomed the guests with warm and not sultry weather. Armed patrols can be found throughout the city, which ensure the security of the summit. However, in general, there is no feeling that government meetings have affected the lives of citizens.

The forum is held under the slogan "Inclusivity and sustainable development". Judging by the vast green spaces in the capital and the solar panels on the roofs of buildings, sustainable development is among the priorities of Malaysian politics.

The main event of the first day of Russia's participation in the summit was Sergey Lavrov's meeting with the foreign ministers of the ASEAN countries. The head of Russian diplomacy noted that relations between the Russian Federation and the association have acquired a new quality and ensure stability in the Asia-Pacific region. The adoption of a program document for 2026-2030 is being prepared. It suggests setting out the current goals and priority areas of cooperation.

—We believe that today's meeting will help to further unlock the potential of our dialogue, expand its sectoral agenda, and launch new joint mechanisms, especially in the knowledge—intensive and high-tech sectors," Sergey Lavrov said.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) was founded in 1967. It now includes Brunei, Vietnam, Indonesia, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines. Papua New Guinea and East Timor have observer status.

The Council of Foreign Ministers is a prelude to the summit of heads of state, which will be held in October. It is expected that the forum will go beyond the region — Malaysia is counting on the visit of the leaders of Brazil and South Africa. During the Malaysian Prime Minister's trip to Moscow in May, Vladimir Putin also received an invitation to attend the summit. At that time, the Malaysian authorities said they were ready to step up cooperation with Russia, even despite the sanctions. According to Russian Ambassador to Malaysia Nail Latypov, the trade turnover between the two countries reached about $2.5 billion in 2024.

Political relations with Malaysia are developing very actively this year. Given this positive trend, the issues of intensifying economic, scientific and educational ties, including at the interregional level, are on the agenda, Ekaterina Koldunova, director of the MGIMO ASEAN Center, told Izvestia.

Of particular note is Lavrov's meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi. Most recently, the diplomats spoke at the BRICS summit in Brazil. Now they have discussed the problems of the Asia-Pacific region. Russia and China stand in solidarity against actions and plans to militarize the region, including attempts to deploy military infrastructure there according to the NATO standard. The conversation only confirmed the closeness or convergence of approaches on the issues discussed.

Lavrov also held a separate meeting with his Laotian counterpart, Thongsavan Phomvihan. The sides expressed confidence that the upcoming bilateral contacts at the highest and highest levels will bring the partnership of the countries to a new level.

— Russia and Laos are actively discussing the possibilities of expanding economic cooperation in addition to the traditionally well-developed relations in the field of military—technical cooperation and cooperation in mine clearance of the territory of Laos - many years after the end of the Indochina wars, this problem still persists in the country. Laos has consistently shown interest in cooperation with BRICS,— Koldunova said.

The head of the Russian diplomatic department also held talks with Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the Kingdom of Cambodia Prak Sokhon. A meeting was also held with the head of the Sri Lankan Foreign Ministry, Vijita Herath.

Thailand expects to expand trade with Russia, for this the parties must jointly solve a number of technical problems and strengthen cooperation between departments. This was stated by the Deputy Foreign Minister of the Kingdom, Russ Jalichandra, in a comment to Izvestia.

— We are interested in cooperation with Russia in all areas. We consider Russia as an important friend. We have excellent relations, we strive to expand our cooperation, especially in the field of trade," the politician told Izvestia. — But there are some technical issues that we need to resolve between our relevant ministries and agencies. We believe that it is in trading that we have room for growth. We must work together to overcome some obstacles, and we have the potential to do so.

Russia's participation in the ASEAN Council of Foreign Ministers has already become traditional. Moscow joined the Bali Treaty, which laid the foundation for ASEAN, back in 2004. The trade turnover of the Russian Federation with the countries of the association is growing: By the end of 2024, Russian exports increased by 5.8% and exceeded $11 billion.

Moscow considers ASEAN as a key partner in the implementation of Vladimir Putin's initiative to create a Eurasian security architecture, the Russian Foreign Ministry said earlier.

Among the promising areas of cooperation is increased coordination both between Russia and ASEAN and with individual members of the association, in particular, in the BRICS format (Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam). Ekaterina Koldunova summarized: economically, the areas of energy remain relevant, including the development of renewable and clean sources (nuclear energy), food security, digitalization, educational and scientific cooperation, as well as tourism.