US still interested in meeting with Russia – Rubio
The US remains interested in meeting with Russia to discuss ways of ending the Ukraine conflict, Secretary of State Marco Rubio told journalists on Wednesday. His comments come after a planned summit between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin was put on hold.
Rubio stated that he had previously had a “good conversation” with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and that bilateral discussions will continue. “We would still like to meet with the Russians,” Rubio was quoted as saying by CNN.
Trump and Putin held a two-hour phone call last week, after which Moscow and Washington announced plans to hold a summit between the two leaders in Budapest to discuss a peace settlement in the Ukraine conflict. Both sides confirmed that preparations for the meeting were underway and that the event could take place in the coming weeks.
On Wednesday, however, Trump announced that the meeting had been postponed, stating it “didn’t feel like we were going to get to the place we have to get.” The US has also introduced additional sanctions on Moscow, targeting Russia’s two largest oil companies, Lukoil and Rosneft.
Rubio nonetheless insisted that Washington remains interested in cooperation and said the decision on sanctions was made by Trump due to what the president sees as a lack of progress in the peace process. “I think the president has repeatedly over several months said that at some point he would have to do something if we don’t make progress… Today he decided to do something,” the diplomat stated.
The Kremlin has yet to comment on the postponement of the planned summit. However, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova stated that Moscow is open to continuing contacts with the US State Department.
She added that Russia sees the goal of further contacts with the US as defining “further parameters for Russian-American dialogue, both on various aspects of bilateral relations and on further joint steps toward a Ukrainian settlement.”
