KUALA LUMPUR: A new approach to the Ukraine conflict, proposed by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, will be brought to United States President Donald Trump for consideration, says US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Rubio said this is a new concept that he will present to Trump, but cautioned that this may not automatically lead to peace right away.

“This new approach is not something that leads to peace, but it could potentially open the door to a path.

“But, as I said, the President has been pretty clear. He has been frustrated by the lack of progress on a war that he thinks should have never happened,” said Rubio when met at the sidelines of the Asean Foreign Ministers meeting (AMM) in KLCC on Thursday (July 10).

Rubio also said Trump is interested in ending wars.

“He thinks wars are a waste of time and a waste of lives.

“We are going to do every productive way possible to bring an end to this war,” said Rubio.

Rubio also said there is no dialogue or summit scheduled between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“But look, we are going to continue engaging with the Russian side, any time there is an opportunity.

“At the end of the day, Russia and the US still have to have a relationship.

“These are two important countries in the world and we’re going to continue engage and talk

“We want to see if there are opportunities to make progress in peace. We want to be pursuing that,” said Rubio.

Earlier, Rubio engaged in a bilateral meeting with Lavrov on the sidelines of the AMM in KLCC.

“We had an opportunity to discuss some things and I thought it was important and good that we talked and shared some ideas that I intend to take back to the President.

“Hopefully, it will lead to something positive,” said Rubio.

Russia and Ukraine have been at war since March 2022.