U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Thursday in Manila that the Trump administration is poised to help end the "senseless war" in Ukraine but acknowledged there is no quick path to a deal.
Rubio, who met with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov, called previous U.S.-mediated talks "unsuccessful or at least unfruitful" and said President Donald Trump was committed to the work "if conditions and factors have changed to make that possible."
Rubio met Lavrov and several other leaders, including China's foreign minister, on the sidelines of an annual gathering by foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Manila.
He said there has been no change to Washington's military support for Ukraine, noting weapons are being purchased by NATO allies and transferred to the war-ravaged country.
Rubio said the U.S. is focused on Asia "every single day" even as it steps up fighting with Iran, seeks a pathway to end Russia's war in Ukraine and pressures the Cuban government to make changes.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reiterated that his priority is finding a way to get back to negotiations.
On the Iran conflict Rubio said, "The price will continue to get higher every single night until they come to their senses," adding that Tehran is "begging" for talks but is "clearly not ready to make a deal, at least not one they're willing to live by." He also said, "The president's policy is a head for an eye," and warned, "They will pay a very heavy price for the things they're doing." Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said his country's defense doctrine was an "eye for an eye."
Rubio said he met Wednesday with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and discussed a new altercation between Chinese and Filipino forces in a disputed shoal in the South China Sea that he called "escalatory," and he said he believes Chinese leader Xi Jinping will have a "very positive visit when he comes to Washington" in September.
The Russian Foreign Ministry in Moscow said Lavrov emphasized the "unacceptability of further arming" Ukraine, accused European countries of pursuing Russia's "strategic defeat," and reiterated Russia's readiness for "a political and diplomatic resolution of the conflict" and commitment to agreements reached at a summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Trump in Alaska last year.