Marco Rubio and Sergey Lavrov hold high-level meeting in New York

United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov met on Wednesday, September 23, 2026, on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. The meeting, which follows a previous encounter between the two officials in Manila this past July, addressed critical international issues and the state of bilateral relations between Moscow and Washington.

During the discussions, the two ministers exchanged perspectives on the ongoing conflict in Ukraine and the situation in the Middle East. According to the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Sergey Lavrov emphasized the necessity for an immediate normalization of diplomatic ties between the two nations. Both parties reached a consensus on the importance of maintaining open channels of communication and agreed to continue their diplomatic engagement moving forward.

This high-level dialogue took place amidst the broader diplomatic proceedings of the UN annual session, coinciding with the same day that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was scheduled to address the General Assembly. While the talks underscore a significant point of interaction during the summit, no further specific outcomes or follow-up dates were disclosed beyond the commitment to ongoing discussions.