US secretary of state Marco Rubio (Photo: AP).
Speaking at a press conference after the ninth Russia-Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Joint Ministerial Meeting for Strategic Dialogue in Manama on October 18, Lavrov said the arrangement was a bilateral matter between Russia and the US. He said Trump remained willing to take any steps that could help end the war, although progress so far had fallen short of expectations, China’s Xinhua news agency reported.
Rubio said the US had spent nearly two years trying to facilitate an end to the conflict. On Sunday, Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov criticised Ukraine and the European Union over what he described as their reaction to a “diesel deal” between Moscow and Washington. “The ‘diesel deal’ between Moscow and Washington is a matter for Moscow and Washington,” Lavrov said. It was raised, but no specific proposals or agreements were discussed or put forward by anyone, either regarding the meeting itself or the possible agenda and content of that meeting,” Peskov said.
“Given that all three heads of state may potentially take part in the summit in China, the subject of such a hypothetical meeting was indeed raised. US secretary of state Marco Rubio on Monday said ending the Russia-Ukraine war remained a top priority for President Donald Trump , adding that Washington would continue exploring ways to bring the conflict to an end. He added that if the EU viewed the deal as a betrayal of Ukraine, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr On Monday, Moscow said that a trilateral meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin , Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping could take place next month on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in China to discuss ending the Ukraine conflict.