During Lavrov-Rubio meeting, Russia set out its “red lines” to the US: Malek Dudakov

Malek Dudakov, Americanist political scientist, commented to Alpha News on the talks between Sergey Lavrov, Russian Foreign Minister, and Marco Rubio, US Secretary of State.

“The first in-person meeting in a long time between Sergey Lavrov, Russian Foreign Minister, and Marco Rubio, US Secretary of State, did indeed take place. At the same time, there’s still little public information about the content of the talks. Based on the available data, the main focus was on the Ukrainian crisis, as well as, to a certain extent, the situation in the Middle East. The meeting lasted no more than half an hour, so I strongly doubt any serious breakthroughs will follow. However, the very fact of such contacts can certainly be viewed positively, especially against the backdrop of the Russian-American negotiating process as a whole having been essentially frozen and not moving in either direction. This is largely due to the American side’s position. Once it became clear that the Ukrainian issue couldn’t be resolved quickly, Washington began losing interest in serious negotiations on this topic. US attention shifted to the Middle East, and the American administration is now focused much more on that agenda than on the Ukrainian crisis,” Dudakov said.

According to the expert, under current conditions, the Ukrainian direction is no longer the top foreign policy priority for Marco Rubio and part of the American administration.

“Today, Iran, as well as the situation in the Caribbean basin, Cuba and Venezuela, matter far more to Marco Rubio. In addition, given that he’s viewed as one of the possible contenders for the US presidency in 2028, he’s already thinking about where he can score political points. On the Ukrainian front, it seems to me, he understands perfectly well that he won’t be able to gain serious political dividends. That’s why he isn’t seeking to show any particular activity here. In effect, this topic has been handed off to the lead negotiators, Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff. But they, too, are currently focused mainly on the Middle East agenda rather than Ukraine,” Dudakov noted.

In the political scientist’s view, real movement in the negotiating process may appear after Zelensky’s visit to the US and his contacts with the American negotiators.

“Against the backdrop of the crisis we’re seeing today in Kyiv, including the resignations of senior military leadership figures, the key developments will be Zelensky’s talks following his visit to the US, including his contacts with Kushner and Witkoff. So the current Lavrov-Rubio meeting looks like a kind of preliminary groundwork. Russia is once again conveying its position to the American side, setting out its demands, red lines and the conditions under which it’s prepared to negotiate. In this sense, Russian diplomacy is operating quite successfully. There will be plenty more meetings and talks of this kind. And real movement, in my view, could come after Zelensky’s visit to the US. That’s when it will become clearer whether the sides are ready for any new decisions and steps,” Dudakov concluded.