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U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Saturday that he spoke briefly with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov during G20 talks in Atlanta about a possible interaction between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin at next month’s APEC summit in China.
“We spoke just briefly about the opportunity for our leaders to potentially interact at APEC next month,” Rubio told reporters, referring to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit scheduled for mid-November in Shenzhen.
Rubio stressed that he did not hold a formal meeting with Lavrov during the two-day gathering of G20 foreign ministers, which concluded Saturday.
Lavrov had described their exchange a day earlier as a “decent talk.”
Rubio said maintaining communication between Washington and Moscow was important because of the risk of future escalation, pointing to both the Russia-Ukraine war and Russia’s nuclear arsenal.
“It is always important that the United States and Russia have communications at some level because of the danger of escalation in the future,” Rubio said.
On the war in Ukraine, he said the U.S. remained prepared to help mediate an end to the conflict.
“If we can play a role in mediating an end to that conflict, the United States is prepared to play that role,” Rubio said. “And to play that role, we have to have the ability to communicate with both sides.”
Lavrov’s attendance at the Atlanta meeting drew objections from some European officials as Russia remains largely isolated by Western countries following its 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
Plans for a traditional G20 family photo were canceled Friday after some European officials objected to appearing alongside Lavrov.
The foreign ministers’ meeting was also intended to prepare for the G20 leaders’ summit at Trump’s Doral resort in Miami in December.
Trump has invited Putin to attend the summit and said Saturday that he would have “no problem” also inviting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The G20 includes major economies such as the U.S., Russia, China, India, France and Germany.
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