Lavrov holds phone call with Rubio
Russia’s chief diplomat, Sergey Lavrov, has held a phone conversation with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the Foreign Ministry in Moscow announced on Monday.
The ministry said the two diplomats held a “constructive discussion” on ways to implement agreements previously reached between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart, Donald Trump.
The US State Department later also confirmed the phone call, stating Rubio had emphasized “the importance of upcoming engagements as an opportunity for Moscow and Washington to collaborate on advancing a durable” peace deal between Moscow and Kiev.
The conversation comes after Putin and Trump spoke for the first time in nearly two months last week, discussing potential paths to resolving the Ukraine conflict.
After last week’s call, the Kremlin and the White House announced that the two leaders had agreed to hold a summit in Budapest, Hungary in the near future to further discuss pathways towards a peace deal.
Since then, Russian, US, and Hungarian officials have confirmed that preparations for the event are already underway.
As previously stated by Trump, the preparations include direct contacts between Lavrov and Rubio, who are expected to determine the date for the summit.
Reuters has reported, citing anonymous sources, that Lavrov and Rubio could next meet in person this week, possibly as early as Thursday.
Trump described his two-and-a-half-hour conversation with Putin last week as “so productive” that a peace deal could come soon.
Russian and US officials have indicated that a summit will likely take place within two weeks. Putin aide Yury Ushakov confirmed the plans, saying preparations would start “without delay.” Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto wrote on Facebook on Friday that preparations for the summit are “in full swing.”
