US Secretary of State Marco Rubio met Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on the sidelines of the ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Manila on July 22; the talks covered a potential visit by President Xi Jinping to the United States, the Philippines-China clash at Ayungin Shoal, and shipping through international waterways; Rubio stressed the US sought dialogue despite differences

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio met for 35 minutes on July 23 in Manila on the sidelines of the 59th ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting, the highest-level direct Russia-US diplomatic contact in months; Lavrov told Rubio arms supplies to Kyiv are inadmissible; Rubio said the US is ready to help end the 'senseless war' but acknowledged no quick path; both sides agreed to continue diplomatic engagement and discussed the Persian Gulf situation; no joint statement or concrete proposal was released

Marco Rubio met Lebanese President Joseph Aoun in Washington on July 19, praising Lebanon's efforts to disarm Hezbollah and reclaim sovereignty; Aoun is scheduled to meet Donald Trump on July 21, seeking US guarantees on Israeli troop withdrawal from southern Lebanon

Cuban artist and San Isidro Movement co-founder Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara arrived at Miami International Airport on July 18 after being released from a five-year prison sentence on condition that he leave Cuba; US Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed the release and called on Cuba to free more than 700 remaining political prisoners

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, who chaired the US Senate Budget Committee and was one of President Donald Trump's closest congressional allies, died on July 12 after what his office described as a brief and sudden illness; Graham had served four terms in the US Senate since 2002, was a prominent foreign policy hawk, and was widely recognised as one of Israel's strongest advocates in the US Congress

Cubans in Old Havana and Guanabacoa banged pots and chanted against the government on July 12, five years after the July 11, 2021 protests swept dozens of Cuban cities; Cuban security forces deployed in Havana; residents in Guanabacoa staged demonstrations after more than 33 consecutive hours without electricity; US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and UN Ambassador Mike Waltz each issued statements calling for the release of more than 800 political prisoners held since 2021; Cuban Americans held a Liberation Day rally in Miami

Ambassadors Leiter and Hamadeh signed the Trilateral Framework at the State Department on June 26, launching two IDF withdrawal pilot zones and a Military Coordination Group; Hezbollah was not a party and threatened civil war over implementation

Washington ends three days of direct Israel-Lebanon talks with US optimism that Israeli and Lebanese officials contradict; a drone strike kills two near Nabatieh

The three-day mission to UAE, Kuwait and Bahrain surfaced a private fear: that Washington's rapprochement with Tehran could normalise a rival the Gulf has spent decades containing

The US Secretary of State concluded visits to UAE, Kuwait, and Bahrain defending the US-Iran MoU; Gulf partners offered public solidarity while privately questioning enforcement