Rubio: No Scheduled Meeting Between Trump and Putin Yet

A meeting of the presidents of Russia and the United States, Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump, is not on the agenda as of now, but Washington remains open to dialogue with Moscow, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said.

"No, there’s no summit scheduled yet," he said, answering a reporter’s question in Kuala Lumpur, where he is currently on a visit, The Caspian Post reports, citing TASS.

"We’re going to continue to engage with the Russian side. Any time there’s an opportunity to engage with them, we’re going to do so."

In his opinion, "the United States and Russia still have to have a relationship," because "these are two important countries in the world."

"We’re going to continue to engage and talk," he added.

Russian Presidential Press-Secretary Dmitry Peskov said on July 4 that a meeting between the presidents of Russia and the United States is necessary, but requires thorough preparations.

Earlier in the day, Rubio met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) events in Kuala Lumpur. The Russian Foreign Ministry said after the talks that Lavrov and Rubio had discussed Ukrainian reconciliation, resumption of economic and humanitarian cooperation, and the work of diplomatic missions.