US-brokered direct talks between Russia and Ukraine in early 2026 broke down, chiefly over the issue of territory. “I don’t even want to imagine that Alaska … was conceived to gain time in order to strengthen Ukraine militarily,” Lavrov said in June. A meeting between Lavrov and Rubio in Manila in July — their first since September 2025 — lasted only around 30 minutes. “We’ll have to find new suggestions and new ideas” that both “Russia and Ukraine can agree to,” Rubio said after that meeting. “The spirit of Anchorage has dissipated,” said Russian political analyst Fyodor Lukyanov — close to the ruling elite — in August.