Lavrov and Rubio convene in Manila as Ukraine remains on agenda PHOTO / UPDATED

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov informed US Secretary of State Marco Rubio about the situation along the line of contact in Ukraine and stressed the inadmissibility of further “pumping Ukraine with weapons,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.

According to Zakharova, Lavrov also reaffirmed during the meeting Russia’s commitment to the proposals put forward by the United States during talks in Alaska.

“Attention was also paid to normalising the conditions for the functioning of Russian and US diplomatic missions,” the ministry said in a statement.

The sides also discussed regional and international issues, including the situation in the Persian Gulf.

It was noted that Russia and the United States reached an agreement to continue contacts through their foreign ministries, including within the framework of their participation in the work of international organisations.

09:26

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio have held talks in Manila on the sidelines of ASEAN-related meetings in the Philippine capital.

The meeting lasted for more than 30 minutes. Lavrov and Rubio, accompanied by their respective delegations, left the meeting venue at 12:31 local time (08:31 Baku time) after talks that began at 11:54 (07:54 Baku time), TASS reports.

Earlier reports indicated that Rubio was scheduled for another bilateral meeting at the Philippine International Convention Centre at around 12:25 local time (08:25 Baku time).

The talks were expected to focus in particular on efforts to resolve the conflict in Ukraine. Lavrov said a day earlier that Moscow proceeds from the assumption that Washington has not yet abandoned proposals put forward during discussions in Alaska.

A diplomatic source said the meeting was initiated by the US side.

The Russian delegation included Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko, Director of the Foreign Policy Planning Department Alexey Drobinin, and Russian President’s Special Representative to ASEAN Evgeny Zagaynov. The US delegation comprised Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Allison Hooker and US presidential special envoy Sergio Gor.

By Jeyhun Aghazada