CNN
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Secretary of State Marco Rubio plans to satisfy Russian International Minister Sergey Lavrov on Thursday, simply days after President Donald Trump expressed frustration with Russian President Vladimir Putin for not participating in peace talks with Ukraine, in line with a senior State Division official.
The assembly is ready to happen in Malaysia on the sidelines of a gathering of the Affiliation of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN.
Trump reiterated a number of occasions this week that Ukraine wanted defensive weapons. His feedback got here after a halt in weapons stream to Ukraine, directed by the Pentagon, set off confusion about continued US army help for Ukraine.
Secretary of Protection Pete Hegseth didn’t inform the White Home earlier than he gave the inexperienced mild to pause shipments of weapons to Ukraine final week and the transfer additionally caught Rubio off guard, CNN reported. Shortly after the halt Trump mentioned at the very least a number of the weapons shipments would proceed.
“Putin is just not — he’s not treating human beings proper,” Trump mentioned of his Russian counterpart on Tuesday. “He’s killing too many individuals.”
“So we’re sending some defensive weapons to Ukraine, and I’ve accepted that,” Trump mentioned.
Trump additionally criticized Putin sharply, saying he has supplied numerous “bullsh*t” which has proved to be “meaningless.”
Following these feedback, Russia launched its largest drone assault to this point on Ukraine with greater than 700 drones, in line with Ukraine’s Air Drive.
Will probably be the second time that Rubio meets together with his Russian counterpart, the primary being in Saudi Arabia earlier this yr. The 2 have talked on the telephone a number of occasions in current months because the US pushed for a ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia that by no means got here to fruition.
All through the primary few months of his second time period, Trump sought a extra conciliatory tone with Putin, geared toward drawing him into agreeing to finish the Ukraine struggle. Now, as Russia’s assault on Ukraine continues Trump’s anger is public, organising a probably tense assembly between Rubio and Lavrov.
Rubio can be assembly his ASEAN counterparts in the course of the gathering in Kuala Lumpur simply days after Trump declared that most of the international locations shall be topic to US tariffs in lower than a month until they strike commerce offers.
The tariffs added a layer of complexity to Rubio’s first journey to Asia as Trump’s high diplomat. Eight of the ten counties in ASEAN — together with South Korea and Japan which can have delegations in Kuala Lumpur — will face tariffs from the US on August 1, if the implementation deadline holds.
Trump started saying plans for the tariffs in letters to a number of of the nations that he posted on social media the day earlier than Rubio’s departure.
The president has made clear that commerce and economics are a centerpiece of his overseas coverage. Although Rubio is just not Trump’s high commerce negotiator, Trump administration officers anticipated him to face many questions and frustrations in regards to the tariffs in his conferences, one senior administration official mentioned.
Rubio signaled early this yr that he supposed to shore up alliances in Asia to give attention to the problem posed by China: he met together with his counterparts from Australia, Japan and India as his first diplomatic engagement as Secretary of State.
His journey to Asia was set to reassure the area of the US dedication.
“In his first journey to Asia as secretary of state, Secretary Rubio is targeted on reaffirming the USA dedication to advancing a free, open and safe Indo-Pacific area,” mentioned Tammy Bruce, the State Division spokeswoman.
However Asia has not been on the high of his agenda all through Rubio’s first six months on the job, whereas the Center East, Ukraine and South America have consumed most of his time. Even this journey to the area solely consists of one cease, with Rubio spending the sooner a part of the week on the White Home for conferences with visiting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
This story has been up to date with extra particulars.
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