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US Secretary of State Marco Rubio held a phone call with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov yesterday, as Washington and Moscow work to restore bilateral relations and advance negotiations for a ceasefire in Ukraine.
According to a statement from the US State Department, Rubio and Lavrov discussed steps to restore direct communication between the two countries.
"Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke today with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. They discussed next steps to follow up on recent meetings in Saudi Arabia and agreed to continue working toward restoring communication between the United States and Russia ," the statement said.
The call follows high-level talks in Saudi Arabia on February 18, in which Washington and Moscow agreed to appoint teams to work on resolving the Ukraine conflict, restoring embassy operations and addressing other points of contention in bilateral relations. Additional discussions have since been held in Istanbul, focusing on diplomatic funding and a proposal by Moscow to restore direct flights between Russia and the United States.
In the phone call, Rubio also briefed Lavrov on US military strikes against Houthi militants in Yemen, stressing that continued Houthi attacks in the Red Sea "will not be tolerated."
US President Donald Trump announced on Truth Social yesterday that the US had launched military action against the group, citing its "relentless campaign of piracy, violence and terrorism against American and other ships, aircraft and drones."
No further details were given about the US-Russia call. After talks with US officials on March 11 in Saudi Arabia, Kiev agreed to a 30-day ceasefire. Trump's special envoy, Steve Witkoff, arrived in Moscow on Thursday to present details of the proposal to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Putin has welcomed the ceasefire in principle, but insisted on addressing several issues before implementing it, including the fate of Ukrainian forces currently surrounded in Russia's Kursk Region.
While details of Witkoff's meeting with Putin have not been made public, Trump hinted at progress, stating that the White House had received "some pretty good news" about ceasefire efforts and that US-Russia meetings over the past few days had been "very productive."
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