The UN is the only one: Lavrov and Rubio will discuss the differences between Russia and the United States in the World Organization

At the upcoming meeting in New York, Sergey Lavrov and Marco Rubio will discuss further cooperation at the United Nations, the Russian Foreign Ministry told "Izvestia". For a long time, Moscow and Washington have been unable to find common ground on hot topics at the organization's venues. However, with the advent of Trump, US policy here has become more pragmatic, and bringing the topic of cooperation at the UN to the ministerial level will give an impetus to the Russian-American dialogue, the ministry stressed. A new round of normalization of bilateral relations will take place in the near future. However, experts are confident that warming between the countries should not be expected.

What will Lavrov and Rubio discuss at the UNGA session?

The planned meeting between Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio may take place as early as September 23, during the high—level week of the UN General Assembly. This is their second face-to-face contact in a year. Earlier, Lavrov and Rubio spoke on July 23 in Manila at the ASEAN ministerial events, but that conversation took only 35 minutes. However, in almost two years since Trump's return to the White House, this will be the sixth meeting between the minister and the Secretary of State.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio during a meeting on the sidelines of the ASEAN Summit in Manila

Photo: RIA Novosti/Russian Foreign Ministry

One of the central topics of the upcoming meeting is expected to be the Ukrainian settlement. At the same time, the Russian Foreign Ministry clarified to "Izvestia" that in New York, the ministers will also discuss cooperation at the UN. Previously, representatives of Russia and the United States regularly conducted such a dialogue, but mainly at the level of permanent missions. After February 2022, substantive coordination at the level of foreign ministers effectively ceased. Now the issues of cooperation in the UN are planned to be discussed at the ministerial level.

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— During the upcoming meeting between Sergey Lavrov and Marco Rubio, issues of cooperation between the two countries will be discussed at the World Organization. As permanent members of its Security Council, Russia and the United States have enormous potential for developing cooperation. Unfortunately, it remains largely unsolved," the Russian Foreign Ministry stressed.

The diplomats added that for a long time Moscow and Washington have been unable to find common ground on acute and resonant UN topics, which increases tensions in the organization.

Photo: Global Look Press/Manuel Elias/XinHua

"The issue of establishing cooperation between Moscow and Washington on generic subjects, country dossiers and certain aspects of the functioning of the world organization has been discussed for some time through our permanent missions," the ministry noted.

By "generic plots" the parties most likely understand the problems of bilateral relations, explained former UN Deputy Secretary General Sergei Ordzhonikidze. In his opinion, we are talking about the work of embassies, the issuance of visas, flights and the return of illegally seized Russian property.

Iran is of the greatest interest to the United States in the country dossiers, said Gleb Ignatiev, lecturer at the Department of Politics and Management at the HSE Faculty of Social Sciences. In his opinion, Donald Trump is counting on joint pressure from Russia and China on Tehran to return it to negotiations and achieve concessions, primarily on the Strait of Hormuz. The expert also allows for a discussion of the DPRK: in his assessment, Washington is counting on Moscow's influence on Pyongyang.

What problems do Russia and the United States have on the bilateral track?

The Russian Ministry also noted the changes in American policy within the United Nations.

— After Donald Trump's return to the White House, Washington's policy at the United Nations has become more pragmatic. Against this background, we have the main disagreements not with the Americans, but with the Europeans, who continue to speak out from radical and ideologized positions in the spirit of the general political line of the European Union Brussels," the Russian Foreign Ministry added.

US President Donald Trump

Photo: Global Look Press/White House/via Globallookpress.com

It is unknown whether the Russian delegation will have contacts with representatives of the European Union during the high week of the UN General Assembly, but Moscow clearly does not expect any significant benefit from them.

"We proceed from the fact that contacts with representatives of EU countries, as a rule, do not carry an "added" value, since their short—sighted foreign policy line only leads to deepening dividing lines, fueling conflicts and exacerbating crisis phenomena," the Russian Foreign Ministry noted.

Unlike its European partners, Washington has shifted its focus from an ideologized globalist agenda to the protection of direct national and commercial interests. US policy has become more commercialized: Washington openly links political support with material benefits, for example, requiring allies (especially in NATO and Europe) to pay for their own security and bear the burden of costs.

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The same approach is evident in the reduction of American contributions to the UN, Ignatiev explains. According to him, now the United States allocates funding only under certain conditions, which most often relate to support for Israel — the organization has been extremely skeptical of the current policy of the Jewish state in recent years. The situation around the United Nations Relief Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) has become a vivid example of harsh conditions. Washington stopped funding the agency, explaining this, among other things, by suspicions of the involvement of some of its employees in the activities of radical groups, including Hamas. The decision on UNRWA was part of a broader review of American overseas aid.

Photo: IZVESTIA/Yulia Mayorova

Budget cuts confirm the trend: Washington has stopped relying on the UN and is acting independently, Ignatiev noted. According to him, the United States has also changed its style of diplomacy. Rubio has lost his Senate belligerence and is now copying Trump's business pragmatism. The only exception is Latin America, which the Secretary of State sometimes even treats aggressively.

Moscow is probably counting on this pragmatism in the upcoming negotiations. And bringing the topic of cooperation at the UN to the ministerial level can give an additional impetus to the Russian-American dialogue as a whole, the Russian Foreign Ministry said. In the near future, contacts will also take place on a purely bilateral track — the so-called elimination of irritants. According to Russian Ambassador to the United States Alexander Darchiev, the meetings will be held in Moscow and Washington, and the same issues of the functioning of embassies, as well as the return of six objects of Russian diplomatic property, are on the agenda.

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However, experts still do not see any prospects for an early exit from the crisis in relations. Ignatiev stressed that the new restrictions block the way to improving relations, and this main irritant will not be eliminated within the framework of the UN General Assembly. We are talking about the package of "hellish sanctions" signed by Trump on September 18, which imposes secondary duties of up to 100% on the goods of the five largest buyers of Russian oil and gas. By threatening duties on China, India and Turkey, Washington is trying to force them to completely abandon energy supplies from the Russian Federation.

Photo: RIA Novosti/Vitaly Timkiv

New arms supplies to Ukraine may become a key disagreement in the negotiations. According to Ignatiev, if Moscow raises this issue, the White House could theoretically freeze the next stage of military assistance approved at the summer NATO summit. We are talking about expanding the PURL program, under which European countries have committed to transfer €70 billion to the US Treasury for the purchase of American weapons for Kiev. In the autumn of 2026, the parties planned to massively deploy this scheme. However, it is unlikely that partial concessions will force the Russian side to stop the special operation — the White House is not going to abandon Kiev's support anyway.