Lavrov calls brief talks with Rubio on the G20 sidelines 'decent'

A brief conversation on the sidelines of the G20

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Friday that he had held a 'decent, if brief conversation' with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on the sidelines of the G20 foreign ministers' meeting in Atlanta. According to him, the talks covered bilateral relations and cooperation in multilateral formats — the UN, the G20 and APEC. This was reported by the Anadolu agency.

Dialogue without progress

Lavrov called the US willingness to maintain dialogue with Russia at various levels a positive sign and said that Moscow and Washington should advance mutually beneficial projects where their interests coincide, without letting disagreements escalate into confrontation. At the same time, he criticized the continued American military aid to Ukraine and intelligence sharing with Kyiv: 'That is why we see no real progress in practice.'

Diesel deal and sanctions

Turning to economic ties, Lavrov defended the diesel fuel deal between Russia and the US, stating that Moscow has no restrictions on selling energy resources and would support mutually beneficial arrangements. However, he acknowledged that the deal has drawn criticism in the US Congress and warned against interpreting it as a breakthrough in relations, noting that American sanctions against Russia remain in place.

The G20 agenda and a possible leaders' meeting

Lavrov backed the efforts of the American chairmanship to depoliticize G20 discussions and return to the originally agreed agenda — the impact of geopolitics on the economy, energy, food security and supply chains. He praised the US for the openness of the discussions but noted that it remains unclear how much of this will be reflected in the final documents. Asked about a possible meeting of the leaders of Russia, the US and China on the sidelines of the upcoming APEC summit in China, Lavrov said the idea is viewed positively in all three capitals, and that organizational matters are being handled by China as the host country.

Context of the meeting

The G20 foreign ministers' meeting, hosted by Secretary of State Rubio, brings together diplomats from the world's leading economies to discuss global economic challenges, geopolitical tensions, energy and food security, freedom of navigation and the resilience of supply chains. It is taking place against the backdrop of the conflict in Ukraine and tensions surrounding Iran. The Atlanta meeting is the final ministerial event under the US chairmanship of the G20 ahead of the leaders' summit of the 'Group of Twenty', scheduled for December 14–15 in Miami.