A handout photo made available by the the Russian Foreign Ministry press service shows Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov (R) attending a meeting with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio (L) on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Foreign Ministers Meeting in Pasay, Metro Manila, Philippines, July 23, 2026. [Photo/VCG]
The United States offered to help find a mediated end to the Russia-Ukraine conflict on Thursday, during talks in the Philippines between US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
The talks followed an apparent recent increase in the intensity of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, with Russia's largest online retailer having been targeted repeatedly by Ukrainian drones and Russian missiles striking Ukrainian ports and ships.
Rubio and Lavrov "discussed the US-Russia relationship and the need to end the Russia-Ukraine war", a US State Department spokesperson said after the meeting.
Russia's Foreign Ministry said Lavrov emphasized to Rubio "the unacceptability of further arming" Ukraine, and told him European countries were pursuing Russia's "strategic defeat".
