MANILA, July 23 -- Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio have confirmed a direct bilateral meeting for Thursday morning in the Philippines capital, placing Ukraine settlement proposals at the centre of the two countries' highest-level diplomatic contact in months.

Lavrov told reporters on the sidelines of the 59th ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting that the encounter is no longer tentative. "The meeting is not just a possibility, it has already been agreed upon," he said. "Tomorrow it will take place during the first half of the day." He said his intention is to press Rubio directly on whether Washington's Ukraine proposals, tabled at the Alaska summit last August, remain operative, and whether Trump...