‘New, different approach to Ukraine peace’ says Marco Rubio

The US Secretary of State says he conveyed the White House’s ‘disappointment and frustration’ at the intensifying war in a meeting with Russia’s Foreign Minister.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks to reporters.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he discussed new ideas for Ukraine peace talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov while conveying the White House’s “disappointment and frustration” at the intensifying war.

After a 50-minute conversation with Mr Lavrov on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations forum in Malaysia, Mr Rubio said he would tell President Trump about “a new and different approach” to peace talks raised in the meeting.

The exchange underscored the administration’s swings between hopeful diplomacy and hard-line threats in its so far unsuccessful effort to swiftly broker peace in Ukraine.

“We need to see a road map moving forward about how this conflict can conclude, and we shared some ideas about what that might look like,” Mr Rubio said, declining to provide details.

Ahead of the Malaysia talks, Russia carried out large-scale attacks in Ukraine that killed two people and injured 23, according to Ukrainian officials. It was the heaviest aerial attack since the start of the three-year conflict, involving dozens of missiles and hundreds of drones.

“The Russians are very good at coming up with elaborate formulas to send us down a rabbit hole and ultimately waste our time,” said Daniel Fried, a retired US diplomat who coordinated sanctions policy against Russia during the Obama administration.

A frustrated Mr Trump said Monday the US would resume providing Ukraine with arms after a brief pause. The new weapons deliveries are intended to help Ukraine withstand Russian attacks after months of trying without success to draw Moscow into negotiations on ending the war.

“We’re going to send some more weapons. We have to,” Mr Trump said. “They have to be able to defend themselves.” Mr Rubio said that aid to Ukraine “continues along the schedule that Congress appropriated,” dismissing the pause as a short-term measure necessary to review whether it was contributing to shortages in Pentagon stockpiles.

In a written statement, the Russian foreign ministry said Mr Rubio and Mr Lavrov had a “substantive and frank” conversation that also touched on Iran and Syria.

Mr Rubio last met his Russian counterpart in Riyadh in February. Less than a week later, Mr Trump expressed optimism that they were making progress and that Russian President Vladimir Putin would “keep his word,” and dressed down Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in a televised Oval Office visit.

This week, however, Mr Trump lashed out at the Russian leader, dismissing his “meaningless” peace overtures. “We get a lot of bulls – t thrown at us by Putin,” he said, adding that he is “not happy” with Moscow.

The administration is in talks with Congress regarding a bill that would authorise steep sanctions on Moscow – including a 500% tariff on Russian oil, gas, uranium and other commodities – over its war in Ukraine. Mr Rubio mentioned the sanctions legislation to Russian officials, he said.

Mr Trump is also considering the deployment of an additional Patriot air-defence system after recent pledges to bolster Kyiv’s defences. Doing so would mark a significant shift for the administration, which until now hasn’t approved major weapons systems for Kyiv beyond the number authorised by Biden officials.

European allies should be providing Ukraine with their own systems, Mr Rubio said, naming Spain and Germany.

The problem, Fried said, is that “Trump keeps falling short of actual action. The Russians aren’t impressed by words. They pay attention to actions.”

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