The U.S. and Russian foreign ministers met today in Manila on the sidelines of the ASEAN summit, with Sergey Lavrov warning Marco Rubio against continuing what Moscow described as the “unacceptable” supply of weapons to Ukraine.

The roughly 30-minute meeting was the first between the two officials since September 2025. It took place just hours after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met with U.S. envoys in an effort to “breathe new life into diplomacy,” as he described the initiative.

Negotiations aimed at ending the war in Ukraine have reached a stalemate. Attention has increasingly shifted toward the Middle East, while Moscow continues to insist on its demands, including that Kyiv cede territory. Meanwhile, Washington has sought to maintain a more cautious tone in its approach to Moscow.

Rubio, who hosted the meeting, and Lavrov sat across from each other at a table before journalists were allowed into the room, but neither made a statement to the press. Both officials were attending the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in the Philippines.

According to the U.S. State Department, the two ministers discussed bilateral U.S.-Russia relations and “the need to end the war between Russia and Ukraine.”

During talks with Rubio on the Ukraine conflict, Lavrov “stressed that it is unacceptable to continue arms deliveries to the Kyiv regime,” according to a statement from Russia’s Foreign Ministry. He also criticized what Moscow called the “destabilizing policy” of European countries that continue seeking to achieve a “strategic defeat” of Russia.

Lavrov reiterated that “the Russian side is ready for a political and diplomatic resolution of the conflict” and told Rubio that Moscow remains committed to proposals discussed by Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin during their August 2025 meeting in Alaska. Russia has been conducting a large-scale war against Ukraine since February 2022.

The two officials also exchanged views on the conflict in the Middle East, according to Russian diplomatic sources. Moscow condemned recent U.S. strikes against Iran, one of Russia’s allies.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said that both sides agreed to continue their dialogue.

On Wednesday, the U.S. secretary of state told reporters that “the United States remains ready and willing to play a constructive role” in efforts to end the war in Ukraine.

“The war in Ukraine has, I believe, in various ways hindered the ability of Russia and the United States to find common ground on other issues,” Rubio said.

The two officials had already held a brief conversation during a dinner on Tuesday evening and also participated earlier Thursday in a meeting of the ASEAN Regional Forum.

U.S. President Donald Trump, who has maintained communication with Russian President Vladimir Putin, expressed support for Ukraine’s campaign of large-scale strikes against Russian energy infrastructure, saying such actions could “help bring an end” to the conflict.

More than four years after the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, attacks have intensified in recent months on both sides, leading to a growing number of civilian casualties.