Lavrov, Rubio discuss removal of 'barriers' set by previous U.S. administration, Russia says

Lavrov and Rubio Talk on Removing US-Russia Barriers

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio discussed the situation in Ukraine in a call on Saturday as well as the removal of "unilateral barriers" set by previous U.S. administration, Moscow said.

Peace talks on ending the war in Ukraine are to start in the coming days after U.S. President Donald Trump shocked European allies by calling Russian President Vladimir Putin this week and declaring an immediate start to the talks.

During the call on Saturday, which was initiated by the U.S. side, Lavrov and Rubio agreed to work on restoring "mutually respectful interstate dialogue" in line with the tone set by the presidents, the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement.

The two 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," the statement said.

It was not immediately clear what specific barriers were discussed.

"The two sides 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."

The U.S. under former President Joe Biden and Kyiv's allies across 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.

Trump and Putin spoke for over an hour on Wednesday, the first known direct contact between U.S. 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 also said that Lavrov and Rubio discussed also how to tighten the conditions for the functioning of Russian diplomatic missions" in the U.S.

"It was agreed to organise a meeting of experts in the very near future to agree on specific steps to mutually remove obstacles to the work of Russian and U.S. missions abroad," the ministry said in its statement. (This story has been refiled to correct the spelling of 'discuss' in the headline)

(Reporting by Reuters; Writing by Lidia Kelly in Melbourne; Editing by Gareth Jones and Alistair Bell)