Rubio says Trump team poised to help end Ukraine's 'senseless war' but
no quick deal
[July 23, 2026]
By MICHELLE L. PRICE and JIM GOMEZ
MANILA, Philippines (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said
Thursday the Trump administration is poised to help end the “senseless
war” in Ukraine but acknowledged there is no quick path to a deal,
saying diplomacy will require sustained effort and new ideas.
Rubio, who earlier held talks with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov,
said Moscow and Kyiv should have the incentive to end a “very blood war”
that devastated both sides.
Rubio alluded to how U.S.-mediated talks have stalled, calling them
“unsuccessful or at least unfruitful” in the past but insisted U.S.
President Donald Trump was committed to the work “if conditions and
factors have changed to make that possible.”
“That’s been the challenge, an end that both sides can accept. And we’ve
tried and we’ll continue to try to see if we can, you know, find a
middle ground that brings this about. And we’re prepared to play that
role if the opportunity presents itself,” Rubio told reporters.
Lavrov largely ignored questions from reporters after the meeting. The
Russian Foreign Ministry in Moscow said he emphasized to Rubio “the
unacceptability of further arming” Ukraine and accused European
countries of pursuing Russia's “strategic defeat.”
Lavrov reiterated Russia’s readiness for “a political and diplomatic
resolution of the conflict” and commitment to agreements reached at a
summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Trump in Alaska last
year, the Russian ministry said.
Washington’s military support for Ukraine remains unchanged, with arms
transfers continuing through NATO’s PURL initiative, Rubio said.
“There’s been no change to our policy in that regard. We want a peace
deal. We want the war to end,” he added.
ASEAN talks focused on international conflicts
The meeting was held on the sidelines of an annual gathering by
foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in
Manila.
Three days of closed-door talks that started Tuesday have focused on the
resurgent war in the Middle East, the conflict between Russia and
Ukraine and, closer to home, the South China Sea, where a new clash
flared Thursday.
U.S. efforts to broker an end to the Russia-Ukraine war have dropped off
as indirect talks stalled and the Iran war took center stage. Renewed
strikes by Washington and Tehran have been intensifying after an interim
ceasefire deal collapsed.
Expectations for renewed discussions about ending the war comes as
Ukraine has made significant progress this year but a rift between
defense leaders has threatened to derail its efforts. President
Volodymyr Zelenskyy has undertaken a major government reshuffle,
including its top military brass.
China defends maritime military actions
Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong renewed her country's alarm over
the Chinese navy’s recent test-launch of a missile from a
nuclear-powered submarine in the region, saying the lack of notification
to the Philippines and Pacific nations where the missile flew over and
landed was destabilizing.
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U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio attends the 33rd ASEAN Regional
Forum (ARF), part of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations
(ASEAN) Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Pasay, Metro Manila,
Philippines Thursday, July 23, 2026. (Ezra Acayan/Pool Photo via AP)
“It comes in the context of a rapid military build-up of China’s
nuclear arsenal without the transparency or reassurance the region
expects,” Wong told a university forum in Manila on Thursday. “This
is why Australia has described the test as provocative and
destabilizing.”
China has defended its actions, saying the launch was part of annual
exercises and that it gave countries in the area appropriate notice
in advance.
Rubio also had a long meeting Wednesday with Chinese Foreign
Minister Wang Yi and separately with Indian External Affairs
Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar.
Rubio told reporters he and Wang discussed a new altercation this
week between Chinese and Filipino forces in a disputed shoal in the
South China Sea, which Beijing claims virtually in its entirety.
Rubio called the incident “escalatory.”
“Those need to be managed very carefully, because obviously, a
conflict — be it economic or otherwise — between the U.S. and China
would have a dramatic global impact,” Rubio said.
In Beijing, the Chinese coast guard said it took necessary measures,
including monitoring and blocking, to drive away two Philippine
ships that disregarded repeated warnings from the Chinese side in a
confrontation on Thursday.
China said its operations were professional and lawful and urged the
Philippines to stop its provocative actions infringing on Chinese
territory. Philippine officials did not immediately issue a comment.
The Trump administration has repeatedly criticized China’s assertive
actions in the South China Sea to the disadvantage of smaller
claimant countries like the Philippines, Washington’s oldest treaty
ally in Asia. Taiwan and ASEAN members Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei
have also been involved in the often-tense territorial standoffs.
ASEAN foreign ministers discussed the territorial disputes Tuesday,
welcoming progress in yearslong negotiations between China and their
regional bloc on a proposed non-aggression pact that both sides hope
to conclude this year, according to a draft of a joint communiqué
seen by The Associated Press.
The so-called code of conduct aims to prevent a major conflict in
the disputed waters, a key global trade route, that could draw in
the United States.
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Associated Press journalists Ken Moritsugu in Beijing, Haruka Nuga
in Bangkok and Fu Ting in Washington contributed to this report.
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