Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Malaysia Thursday at a meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. The meeting put the Russia-Ukraine war at the center of a trip that was meant to strengthen alliances in Southeast Asia.

The U.S. secretary of state met with his Russian counterpart on the sidelines of a gathering of Southeast Asian nations, where he also defended new U.S. tariff threats.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio relayed President Donald Trump’s “disappointment and frustration” during a “frank conversation” with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Malaysia on Thursday but new ideas to drive an end to the conflict were also discussed,