Rubio confirms meeting with Lavrov on July 23

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed that he would meet Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on July 23.

Rubio made the comments to reporters after talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on the sidelines of ASEAN-related meetings in the Philippines.

“We will talk again tomorrow,” Rubio said when asked about the planned meeting with Lavrov.

He said the two sides would discuss whether there remained scope for the United States to play a constructive role in efforts to resolve the conflict in Ukraine.

Rubio said Washington considered it necessary to maintain dialogue with Moscow despite disagreements between the two countries.

“Not communicating would be reckless and irresponsible. We have to maintain relations with the Russian government, even if there are areas where we disagree,” he said.