Image Credit: Anadolu / Contributor / Getty 
On Thursday Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on the sidelines at ASEAN forum in Malaysia. This talk comes on the heels of President Donald Trump resuming military aid shipments to Ukraine, a decision he announced during a dinner he held with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday, changing the tune from July 1 when Washington cut off military aid to Kiev, which Rubio described the reporting of as “unfortunate and mischaracterized”.
“It was a frank conversation. It was an important one,” Rubio said about his talk with Lavrov Thursday.
The two reportedly discussed “new and different” ideas to bringing an end to the Ukraine war. The Secretary of State is set to brief the President on his interaction later in the day.
“Our strategy is to continue to engage all the parties that are involved in finding an outcome to this conflict,” Rubio said. “We will engage anytime we have an opportunity to do so like we did today.”
The two spoke for 50-minutes, with Rubio representing Trump’s stance on the Ukrainian conflict “that there’s not been more flexibility on the Russian side to bring about an end to this conflict.”
The term “new and different” as it relates to strategy may indicate a change in tactic by the White House.
“We need to see a roadmap moving forward about how this conflict can conclude,” Rubio said.
So far one of the most recent developments regarding U.S. policy toward Ukraine is Trump’s willingness to continue to supply Ukraine with weapons.
“We’re going to send some more weapons. We have to, they have to be able to defend themselves,” Trump said Monday. “They’re getting hit very hard. Now. They’re getting hit very hard. We’re going to have to send more weapons, your defensive weapons, primarily. But they’re getting hit very, very hard.”
Rubio went in more depth regarding the continued aid shipments in his Thursday statements.
“That decision unfortunately was mischaracterized,” Rubio said Thursday. “It was a pause pending review on a handful of specific type munitions … The overwhelming majority of military aid that the United States provides Ukraine has never been paused and continues along the same schedules that it’s been.”
Rubio also noted that most deliveries are “defensive in nature,” while stressing that Ukraine still needs more Patriot missile batteries.
Trump held a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on July 3 where he urged Putin to bring an end to the war, although the call did not appear to result in any new developments in the conflict.
RT had this to say about the current situation:
The talks on Thursday followed a phone conversation between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin last week. The American president said he was “unhappy” with his Russian counterpart, accusing Putin of not wanting to settle the Ukraine conflict. Putin “is very nice all the time, but it turns out to be meaningless,” Trump claimed on Wednesday.
The Kremlin responded by saying that Moscow remains “committed to continuing our dialogue with Washington,” but reiterated that the Ukraine conflict “is impossible to resolve overnight.”
