Russia’s Lavrov tells Rubio Americans should leave Kyiv
Russia said on Tuesday that its government had warned US Secretary of State Marco Rubio to evacuate diplomats and American citizens from Kiev as Moscow plans new attacks on Ukraine’s capital.
According to the Russian government, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov “officially notified” Washington in a meeting with Rubio on Monday that Russia would launch “systematic and consistent attacks” on Ukrainian military facilities and what Moscow calls “decision-making centers.”
CNBC has reached out to the U.S. and Ukrainian governments for comment.
The call came after the Russian government issued a statement urging foreign citizens, diplomatic staff and international organizations to leave Kiev and warning that it was preparing to target the capital by focusing on facilities to design, manufacture and program unmanned aerial vehicles.
The statement stated that “the attacks will target decision-making centers and command centers.”
“Due to the fact that the above-mentioned facilities are scattered throughout Kiev, we inform foreign citizens, including staff of diplomatic missions and international organizations, that they should leave the city as soon as possible.”
The Russian government also warned the people of Kiev not to use military or government facilities and infrastructure.
Russia’s foreign ministry said Lavrov emphasized the warning to Rubio during Monday’s meeting.
During a readout of the call, U.S. State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott said Rubio spoke to Lavrov at Lavrov’s request.
“The parties exchanged views on the Russia-Ukraine war, bilateral relations and the situation in Iran,” he said.
According to the Russian foreign ministry, Lavrov was said to have said he was “saddened” by the impasse over the Russia-Ukraine peace deal.
Last year, the United States led talks between Russian and Ukrainian delegations with the aim of ending the war between the two countries.
After months of diplomacy, negotiations reached a deadlock and the handing over of Ukrainian territory to Russia remained a point of contention.
Earlier this month, both US President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin said they could see the conflict ending soon.
“I think the end of the war in Ukraine is really, really close,” Trump told reporters at the time.
But Rubio told reporters on Friday that U.S.-led efforts to negotiate a peace deal were over and that previous talks “were not productive.”
“There are no such talks at the moment, but we hope that this will change because this war can only end with a negotiated solution,” he told reporters. “This will not end with a military victory by one side or the other.”
He said the United States was ready to continue overseeing the peace talks if they were constructive, adding that “it doesn’t seem like there’s anyone else in the world right now who can handle this.”
“We are not interested in being involved in an endless cycle of meetings that lead to nothing,” Rubio said.
Before Trump returns to the White House for his second presidential term in question He could have solved the Ukraine war in one day.
Russia launched a large-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
In 2014, Russia invaded and annexed Crimea, a peninsula in southern Ukraine. That same year, armed conflict broke out in eastern Ukraine between government forces and Russian-backed separatists.
Kiev has been the target of repeated Russian attacks since the 2022 invasion. The city was shaken by new attacks over the weekend. reported It will be one of the largest missile launches on the city since the beginning of the war.
