THE United States and Russia have exchanged new ideas for talks on peace in Ukraine, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said today.

He spoke after meeting Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on the margins of an Association of South-east Asian Nations (Asean) summit in the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur.

Mr Rubio told reporters that he thought there was “a new and a different approach” from Russia.

He said: “I wouldn’t characterise it as something that guarantees a peace, but it’s a concept that, you know, that I’ll take back to the president.” He didn’t elaborate.

Mr Rubio added: “We need to see a road map moving forward about how this conflict can conclude. And then we shared some ideas about what that might look like,” he said of his 50-minute meeting with Mr Lavrov. 

“We’re going to continue to stay involved where we see opportunities to make a difference.”

The meeting was their second encounter since Mr Rubio took office, although they have spoken by phone several times. The first meeting between Mr Rubio, who has no diplomatic experience, and his Russian counterpart, who has been in his role since 2004, took place in February in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Today’s meeting occurred shortly after the US resumed some shipments of weapons to Ukraine following a pause that had begun after a Pentagon review revealed that US munitions stocks had been severely depleted.

Mr Rubio’s presence at the Asean summit is likely to be overshadowed by tariff threats made by US President Donald Trump.

The secretary of state has a range of meetings scheduled with other foreign ministers, including many whose countries face tariffs being imposed on August 1.

Mr Trump notified several countries earlier this week that they would face tariffs of 25 per cent if they failed to make trade deals with the US. Among them were eight of Asean’s 10 members.

Today, Mr Rubio met Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, who has warned that global trade is being weaponised to coerce weaker nations. 

Mr Anwar urged the bloc to strengthen regional trade and reduce its reliance on external powers.

Meanwhile, Mr Lavrov and his Malaysian counterpart Mohamad Hasan met to deepen co-operation between Moscow and Asean, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

“The parties discussed ways to implement the agreements reached during Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s official visit to Russia in May, as well as key topics on the bilateral and international agenda,” according to its statement.