Rubio, Lavrov Plan Ukraine Talks in New York

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov are scheduled to meet at 9:00 a.m. Wednesday, September 23, in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, with a press photo opportunity planned. The talks are expected to cover efforts to end Russia's war in Ukraine, including a possible halt to attacks on energy infrastructure, as well as broader U.S.-Russia relations. The meeting follows President Donald Trump's talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in New York on Tuesday on a potential bilateral ceasefire on energy targets. Zelenskyy told journalists he is ready to halt strikes on Russian energy sites if Moscow reciprocates and said he hoped the "American side will find a way...to bring them to any kind of negotiations." Lavrov said last week Russia will not stop fighting while any potential talks take place and is set to address the General Assembly on Saturday. Ukrainian officials said Russian strikes killed eight people Tuesday in industrial heartland and frontline areas. Ukraine said it hit a Russian oil refinery in Ufa, more than 1,300 km from the border, and the Kuibyshev refinery in Samara; the Samara governor said drones hit civilian targets, killing one and injuring four. Both sides deny targeting civilians. A truce on energy targets that Trump said last week had been agreed collapsed the next day.