At the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in Manila, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned US Secretary of State Marco Rubio that continuing to supply Ukraine with weapons is unacceptable, the Russian Foreign Ministry reported, quoted by Agence France-Presse and TASS, BTA reported.
The meeting between the two senior diplomats took place in a context in which US mediation efforts in the talks between Moscow and Kiev have stalled since the start of the war in the Middle East in late February.
Lavrov also condemned the policy of destabilization of European countries, which according to the Russian Foreign Ministry are seek to inflict a "strategic defeat" on Russia and provided Rubio with information about the real situation of the fighting in Ukraine.
The minister reiterated that "the Russian side is willing to resolve the conflict through political and diplomatic means" and confirmed Russia's readiness to adhere to the agreements reached between Washington and Moscow in Anchorage last September.
Rubio and Lavrov also discussed regional and international issues, including the situation in the Persian Gulf, as well as the normalization of the conditions for the work of diplomatic missions of Russia and the United States.
The US State Department, for its part, did not disclose details of the talks, the Associated Press noted.
"Sergey Lavrov and Marco Rubio discussed relations between Russia and the United States and stressed the need to end the Russian-Ukrainian conflict," a State Department representative said laconically.
Before the meeting, the two diplomats did not answer the questions that journalists asked, shouting at each other. Reporters asked whether Russia was helping Iran by providing data on American sites in the Middle East and whether the Russian side was willing to end the war in Ukraine.