Kuala Lumpur (TDI): US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is set to meet Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Thursday during the ASEAN foreign ministers’ summit in Malaysia.
The meeting, the first face-to-face between the two since February, comes at a tense moment in global diplomacy, with escalating violence in Ukraine and renewed trade threats from Washington.
The Rubio-Lavrov talks would take place on the sidelines of the ASEAN summit in Kuala Lumpur. It marks Rubio’s debut visit to Asia as America’s top diplomat.
Missiles Over Kyiv
Russian forces struck the Ukrainian capital overnight, triggering air raid sirens and forcing residents into underground shelters. Blasts echoed through the city as air defense systems lit up the sky.
The attack came just a day after Russia launched its most intense missile-and-drone barrage in over three years of war, a move met with a furious response from US President Donald Trump, who delivered an expletive-laden rebuke of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Read More:Â Putin Tells Trump No Retreat from Aims in Ukraine
“He’s talking nonsense,” Trump said earlier this week, vowing to send more military support to Ukraine.
Following his Malaysia visit, Lavrov is expected to travel to North Korea, the latest in a string of visits by senior Russian officials to Pyongyang as military ties between the two countries deepen.
North Korea has openly backed Moscow during its Ukraine campaign, reportedly sending thousands of troops to Russia’s Kursk region and supplying ammunition and artillery shells.
Read More:Â Putin Says US-Russia Ties Stabilizing, Credits Trump
Rubio’s Asia tour also comes as the White House steps up its trade offensive. President Trump has threatened more than 20 countries, many of them in Asia, with steep tariffs. Copper imports face a 50% duty, pharmaceuticals could be hit with 200%, and many ASEAN members risk 20-40% tariffs unless trade agreements are reached by August 1.
Farkhund Yousafzai is an Associate Editor at The Diplomatic Insight.
