During a meeting on Thursday, at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Regional Forum in Kuala Lumpur, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio expressed President Donald Trump’s “disappointment” to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov regarding the lack of progress toward peace in Ukraine.
Rubio emphasized the need for a clear roadmap to resolve the conflict, reflecting the administration’s growing impatience with Moscow’s stalling tactics.
As Politico reports:
Rubio met with his Russian counterpart on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Regional Forum in Malaysia on Thursday. The face-to-face conversation comes amid growing tension between Washington and Moscow, as the Kremlin’s determination to continue its war on Ukraine has thwarted Trump’s attempts to broker peace — a feat he had promised to deliver swiftly upon entering office.
“Our strategy is to continue to engage all parties involved in finding an outcome to this conflict,” Rubio told reporters after his talk with Lavrov. “We will engage any time that we have an opportunity to do so, like we did today. I echoed what the president said — both disappointment and frustration at the lack of progress.”
Trump has appeared to grow exasperated with Russian leader Vladimir Putin in recent days, as he said he doesn’t know if he will be able to end the war after holding a call with Putin that made “no progress” toward peace.
Trump’s remarks, including labeling Putin’s statements as “bullsh*t,” indicate a shift from his earlier conciliatory approach toward Russia.
WARNING: EXPLICIT LANGUAGE
Despite the palpable frustration, Rubio noted that the meeting with Lavrov yielded a potential new conceptual framework for peace negotiations, which he plans to discuss with President Trump. However, he cautioned that this does not guarantee a resolution.
The meeting took place against the backdrop of escalating Russian military aggression — including Moscow’s most extensive aerial assault on Ukraine since the start of its full-scale invasion three years and four months ago.
The coordinated attack, carried out Tuesday night into early Wednesday morning, targeted major population centers such as Kyiv, Lutsk, Ternopil, and Zhytomyr. Analysts believe the strike was designed to overwhelm Ukrainian air defenses and cripple critical infrastructure.
The U.S. recently resumed arms shipments to Ukraine after a brief pause, signaling a renewed commitment to supporting Kyiv.
In addition, Trump disclosed during a recent Cabinet meeting that he is considering imposing stringent new sanctions on Russia to pressure Moscow into negotiations.
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the only person who can order the end of the Russian/Ukrainian war is Val Putin himself. He is the same guy who started it due to his ego. He has nothing to really gain but dirt. He has destroyed his Honor, Russia’s honor, caused the death’s of thousands of Russians and Ukrainians, destroyed historical artifacts, cities, attacked civilian occupied hospitals, schools, factories, and all for what, dirt to call Russia. At this point Putin is guarded full time as even his people are sick of him, his miltary leadership hates him but are afraid to express it as they will be dead. Heck of a way to run a nation. I predict he will go down in history as a very vial man with a big ego, bent on trying to rebuild the USSR as it was when he was a young man.