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Lavrov, Rubio Discuss Removal of ‘Barriers’ Set by Previous US Administration, Russia Says

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his Sudanese counterpart addresses a press conference during a meeting in Moscow, on February 12, 2025. (AFP)
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his Sudanese counterpart addresses a press conference during a meeting in Moscow, on February 12, 2025. (AFP)
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Lavrov, Rubio Discuss Removal of ‘Barriers’ Set by Previous US Administration, Russia Says

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his Sudanese counterpart addresses a press conference during a meeting in Moscow, on February 12, 2025. (AFP)
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his Sudanese counterpart addresses a press conference during a meeting in Moscow, on February 12, 2025. (AFP)

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio discussed the situation in Ukraine on Saturday, as well as the removal of "unilateral barriers" set by the previous US administration, Moscow said.

US and Russian officials are to start talks in the coming days on ending Moscow's war in Ukraine after US President Donald Trump shocked European allies by calling Russian President Vladimir Putin and declaring an immediate start to the talks.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Friday that Kyiv would not engage with Russia before consulting with strategic partners.

Lavrov and Rubio, in a call initiated by the US, agreed to maintain contacts to resolve problems in bilateral relations, "in the interests of removing the unilateral barriers to mutually beneficial trade, economic and investment cooperation inherited from the previous administration," Russia's foreign ministry said in a statement.

It was not immediately clear what barriers were discussed.

The US under then-President Joe Biden and Kyiv's allies around the world imposed waves of sanctions on Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine three years ago, aimed at weakening the Russian economy and limiting the Kremlin's war efforts.

The US State Department said Rubio reaffirmed in the call Trump's commitment to finding an end to the conflict in Ukraine.

"In addition, they discussed the opportunity to potentially work together on a number of other bilateral issues," it said in a statement, without providing further detail.

Russia said Lavrov and Rubio "expressed their mutual willingness to interact on pressing international issues, including the settlement around Ukraine, the situation around Palestine and in general in the Middle East in general".

They agreed to work on restoring "mutually respectful interstate dialogue" in line with the tone set by the presidents, the ministry said.

Trump and Putin spoke for over an hour on Wednesday, the first known direct contact between US and Russian presidents since Putin had a call with Biden shortly before ordering tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine in February 2022.

The Russian foreign ministry said Lavrov and Rubio also discussed how to quickly improve "the conditions for the functioning of Russian diplomatic missions" in the US.

Experts will meet soon "to agree on specific steps to mutually remove obstacles to the work of Russian and US missions abroad," the ministry said.

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US Slaps Iran-related Sanctions on Oil Tankers, China ‘Teapot' Refinery

The Liberian-flagged tanker Ice Energy, chartered by the US government, takes Iranian oil from Iranian-flagged Lana (formerly Pegas) as part of a civil forfeiture action off the shore of Karystos, on the Island of Evia, Greece, May 26, 2022. REUTERS/Costas Baltas/File Photo
The Liberian-flagged tanker Ice Energy, chartered by the US government, takes Iranian oil from Iranian-flagged Lana (formerly Pegas) as part of a civil forfeiture action off the shore of Karystos, on the Island of Evia, Greece, May 26, 2022. REUTERS/Costas Baltas/File Photo
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US Slaps Iran-related Sanctions on Oil Tankers, China ‘Teapot' Refinery

The Liberian-flagged tanker Ice Energy, chartered by the US government, takes Iranian oil from Iranian-flagged Lana (formerly Pegas) as part of a civil forfeiture action off the shore of Karystos, on the Island of Evia, Greece, May 26, 2022. REUTERS/Costas Baltas/File Photo
The Liberian-flagged tanker Ice Energy, chartered by the US government, takes Iranian oil from Iranian-flagged Lana (formerly Pegas) as part of a civil forfeiture action off the shore of Karystos, on the Island of Evia, Greece, May 26, 2022. REUTERS/Costas Baltas/File Photo

The US on Thursday issued new Iran-related sanctions, targeting entities including for the first time a Chinese "teapot", or independent refinery, and vessels that supplied crude oil to such processing plants.
It was Washington's fourth round of sanctions on Iran's oil sales since President Donald Trump said in February he was re-imposing a "maximum pressure" campaign including efforts to drive down the country's exports to zero. Trump aims to stop Tehran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and funding militant groups.

The refinery Treasury targeted for sanctions is China-based Shandong Shouguang Luqing Petrochemical Co., Ltd.
"So-called 'teapot' refinery purchases of Iranian oil provide the primary economic lifeline for the Iranian regime, the world’s leading state sponsor of terror and the primary backer of the murderous Houthis in Yemen," US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a post on X.

State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said the refinery bought oil from vessels linked to Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis, which the US designated this month as a Foreign Terrorist Organization, and the US-designated Iranian Ministry of Defense of Armed Forces Logistics.

Treasury also imposed sanctions on 12 entities, and identified eight vessels as blocked property it said were responsible for shipping millions of barrels of Iranian oil to China. These vessels are part of Iran’s “shadow fleet” of tankers that supply the private refineries.
It also placed Wang Xueqing, who it said is linked to the refinery, on the specially designated nationals, or SDN, list. Americans are prohibited from doing business with people placed on that list, and their US assets are blocked.
The vessels Treasury blocked included Panama-flagged Aurora Riley and the Catalina, and the Barbados-flagged Brava Lake.
The State Department said it was imposing sanctions on an oil terminal in China called Huaying Huizhou Daya Bay Petrochemical Terminal Storage, for buying and storing Iranian crude oil from a sanctioned vessel.