US Secretary of State Marco Rubio engaged in an unscheduled meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov during the ASEAN summit. This meeting followed President Donald Trump’s urging of Russian President Vladimir Putin to enter into peace negotiations regarding the ongoing war in Ukraine. Before the meeting, both Rubio and Lavrov remained silent. When asked about his message to Lavrov, Rubio responded with a wink. The meeting occurred as the Pentagon paused weapons shipments to Ukraine, a decision that President Trump criticized. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth authorized the halt without informing the White House. Subsequently, Trump criticized Putin and approved sending defensive weapons to Ukraine, while denouncing Putin’s previous statements. In the aftermath, Russia launched its largest drone assault to date on Ukraine, deploying more than 700 drones.
