Sergey Lavrov announces that he is ready to meet with US Secretary Marco Rubio, denying rumors that he would have fallen from grace

Sergey Lavrov announced that he is ready to meet with the US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, in the context in which their previous meeting was considered a failure and fueled the rumors regarding the deadlock of the Russian official.

Sergey Lavrov says he keeps in touch with Marco Rubio. PHOTO: Profimedia

The Russian Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov, said on Sunday, November 9, that he is ready for a meeting with the head of American diplomacy, Marco Rubio, emphasizing, however, that Russia's position regarding the war in Ukraine remains unchanged.

At a time when dialogue between Washington and Moscow appears suspended between attempts at negotiation and political deadlocks, Sergei Lavrov insisted that Russia will not make concessions on the so-called “basic conditions” required to end the conflict.

His statements come after the US administration's efforts to mediate a peace agreement have not produced concrete results. After there was intense discussion about a direct meeting between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin in Budapest, the American president unexpectedly announced that it will no longer take place, a decision that amplified the speculations related to the difficulty of the negotiations.

In parallel, the international press speculated that Sergey Lavrov would have been put in an unfavorable light at the Kremlin, after the last meeting with Marco Rubio, in which the details of the mentioned meeting were to be determined.

In this context, in an interview given to the state agency RIA Novosti, Sergey Lavrov wanted to point out the fact that the dialogue with the American side continues through official channels and that he is ready for a direct discussion with the American secretary of state.

“Secretary of State Marco Rubio and I understand the need for regular communication. It is important to discuss the Ukrainian issue and advance the bilateral agenda. That is why we communicate by phone and are prepared to hold face-to-face meetings when necessary,” Lavrov said.

The statement comes as the war enters its fourth year, and the Russian army continues to advance on the front, controlling about a fifth of Ukraine's territory. The Kremlin considers these areas to be an official part of the Russian Federation, a position not recognized by Ukraine or Western states.

Russia invokes the discussions from the Trump-Putin meeting in Alaska

Sergey Lavrov recalled that the agreements discussed at the summit on August 15, held at the military base in Anchorage, reflect the demands formulated by Putin as early as June 2024.

Essentially, these include Ukraine abandoning the prospect of NATO membership and the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from the Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhia and Kherson regions – territories claimed by Moscow as “legally” Russian.

Currently, Russia's military control includes Crimea, annexed in 2014, almost all of Lugansk region, much of Donetsk, about three-quarters of Kherson and Zaporizhia regions, and parts of Kharkiv, Sumy, Nikolaev and Dnipropetrovsk.

In opposition, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has repeatedly stressed that he has no mandate to cede territory and that such a step would expose both Ukraine and Europe to future aggression.

On Sunday, Sergey Lavrov said that Moscow is waiting for a clear confirmation from Washington on the validity of the previously discussed commitments.

“We now await confirmation from the United States that the Anchorage agreements remain in place,” he pointed out, resuming the Kremlin's rhetoric regarding the legitimacy of territorial annexations and stating that “no one questions the territorial integrity of Russia and the choice of the inhabitants of Crimea, Donbas and Novorossia to reunite with their historical homeland“.

The term “Novorossia”, frequently used in pro-Kremlin discourse, refers to regions in southeastern Ukraine, invoked in the historical narrative of the Tsarist Empire and currently associated with pro-Russian separatist currents.

Regarding nuclear weapons, Lavrov confirmed that Washington has conveyed to Moscow, through diplomatic channels, that it is analyzing Vladimir Putin's proposal to extend the limitations of the New START Treaty, an agreement that regulates strategic arms control and is due to expire in February 2026, Reuters notes.