 "US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Russian President Vladimir Putin's foreign policy advisor Yuri Ushakov and members of the delegations attend talks at Diriyah Palace in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Reuters file")
US State Secretary Marco Rubio met Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov at the Asean Summit in Malaysia on Thursday, where the two leaders will be addressing difficult concerns over the Ukraine war and Trump tariffs.
Rubio and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov saw each other in Kuala Lumpur, where both men are attending the annual Association of Southeast Asian Nations Regional Forum.
The Rubio-Lavrov meeting happened against the backdrop of Washington resuming arms shipments to Ukraine following a pause, which was not well-received by Russia. President Donald Trump has increasingly become critical of his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, as Moscow intensifies its attacks in Ukraine.
“Putin is not, he’s not treating human beings right,” Trump said during a Cabinet meeting Tuesday, explaining the pause’s reversal. “It’s killing too many people. So we’re sending some defensive weapons to Ukraine, and I’ve approved that.”
What to expect from the meeting?
Rubio, who is on an Asian tour for the first time since taking office, will meet Lavrov after the duo met in Saudi Arabia in February as part of the Trump administration’s effort to re-establish bilateral relations and help negotiate an end to the war.
When asked on Wednesday about Trump’s criticism of Putin, the Kremlin said Moscow was “calm” regarding the criticism and that it would continue to try to fix a “broken” US-Russia relationship.
Meanwhile, the two leaders are also expected to discuss Trump’s threat to impose steep sanctions on Russia, including 500 per cent tariffs on nations that buy Russian oil, gas, uranium and other exports.
Tariff a central point
Among Asean states, Trump has so far announced tariffs on almost all of the 10 members of the bloc, which would face a 25 per cent tariff that could specifically hit their electronics and electrical product exports to the United States.
Trade Minister Zafrul Aziz said Wednesday that while Malaysia is ready to resume tariff negotiations, it would not cross its red lines, including US requests for changes to government procurement, halal certification, medical standards and digital taxes.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsIn Kuala Lumpur, Rubio also will likely come face-to-face with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his brief visit of roughly 36 hours.
Russel noted that Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi is a veteran of such gatherings and “fluent in Asean principles and conventions,” while Rubio “is a rookie trying to sell an ‘America First’ message to a deeply skeptical audience.”
With inputs from agencies