The phone conversation between the senior officials comes amid a thaw in relations following years of tensions over the Ukraine conflict

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio held a phone call with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Saturday, as Washington and Moscow work to restore bilateral relations and advance negotiations for a Ukraine ceasefire.

According to a statement from the US State Department, Rubio and Lavrov discussed steps to reestablish direct communication between the two countries.

"Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke today with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. [They] discussed next steps to follow up on recent meetings in Saudi Arabia and agreed to continue working towards restoring communication between the United States and Russia," the statement read.

The call follows high-level talks in Saudi Arabia on February 18, in which Washington and Moscow agreed to assign teams to work on resolving the Ukraine conflict, restore embassy operations, and address other points of contention in bilateral relations. Since then, additional discussions were held in Istanbul, focusing on diplomatic funding and a proposal from Moscow toreinstatedirect flights between Russia and the US.

In the phone call, Rubio also briefed Lavrov on US military strikes against Houthi militants in Yemen, stressing that continued Houthi attacks in the Red Sea "will not be tolerated." US President Donald Trump announced on Truth Social on Saturday that the US had launched a military action against the group, citing its "unrelenting campaign of piracy, violence, and terrorism against American and other ships, aircraft, and drones."

No further details were provided on the US-Russia call. Following talks with US officials on March 11 in Saudi Arabia, Kiev agreed to a 30-day ceasefire. Trump's special envoy, Steve Witkoff, arrived in Moscow on Thursday to present Russian President Vladimir Putin with the details of the proposal.

Putin has welcomed the ceasefire in principle, but insisted on addressing several issues before its implementation, including the fate of Ukrainian forces currently encircled in Russia's Kursk Region. While the details of Witkoff's meeting with Putin have not been made public, Trump hinted at progress, stating that the White House had received "some pretty good news" regarding the ceasefire efforts and that US-Russia meetings over the past several days have been "very productive."

(RT.com)