U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio held a 50-minute bilateral meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on 10 July in Kuala Lumpur, on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations ministerial gatherings. The session was the diplomats’ first face-to-face engagement since February and came during Rubio’s inaugural trip to Asia as the top American envoy. Rubio told reporters that Lavrov presented a “new and different approach” for resolving Russia’s war in Ukraine. While offering no details, he said he would brief President Donald Trump and stressed Washington’s “disappointment and frustration” over what it sees as Moscow’s limited flexibility. The exchange followed Russia’s second large-scale drone and missile attack on Kyiv in as many days, which Ukrainian officials said killed two people and wounded at least 25. According to a Russian Foreign Ministry statement, the talks also covered Iran, Syria and broader bilateral issues. Moscow said both sides reaffirmed a commitment to peaceful conflict resolution and discussed steps such as restoring direct flights and normalising diplomatic activity between the two countries. Rubio’s Malaysia visit forms part of a wider diplomatic push. On 11 July he began a separate meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi—the pair’s first in-person dialogue—against a backdrop of intensifying U.S.-China trade tensions and American concern over Beijing’s support for Russia. Rubio is expected to press those points while seeking to shore up regional backing for Washington’s Indo-Pacific agenda.