Manila (AFP) – Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned Washington against making “unacceptable” arms deliveries to Ukraine during a Thursday meeting in Manila with US counterpart Marco Rubio, Moscow said. Lavrov and Rubio’s meeting on the sidelines of a Southeast Asian summit, their first since September 2025, came as Washington’s focus has switched from mediating in Ukraine to dealing with war in the Middle East.
Lavrov told the US secretary of state “it was unacceptable to continue supplying weapons to the Kyiv regime”, the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement. Following the half-hour meeting, Rubio told reporters the two men had “a good conversation, a frank conversation”, without disclosing details. Asked about the arms deliveries referenced by Moscow, Rubio replied: “We sell weapons through PURL… There has been no change in our policy in this regard.” Launched last year, the PURL initiative allows Ukraine to receive US equipment purchased by Washington’s NATO allies.
Rubio said his government hoped to play a constructive role in bringing an end to the fighting. “We want a peace deal. We want the war to end,” Rubio told reporters, adding it would take “something that both Russia and Ukraine can agree to”. “That’s going to require a lot of work.” Lavrov, meanwhile, reiterated that the Russian side was ready for a “political-diplomatic resolution to the conflict”, according to Moscow’s statement.
Shortly before the two men met, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he had spoken with US envoys in a bid to revive stalled talks aimed at ending the years-long war. “I just spoke with President Trump’s envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. It was a good, important conversation on how to reinvigorate diplomacy and bring peace closer,” Zelensky said in a post on X.
US President Donald Trump has voiced support for Ukraine’s campaign of long-range drone strikes targeting Russian energy infrastructure, saying it could “help bring about an end” to the conflict. In recent months, Kyiv has appeared to stall Moscow’s grinding offensive and has substantially expanded its drone strikes against Russia, disrupting ordinary life there in the war’s fifth year.
Moscow has meanwhile escalated its deadly missile strikes against Kyiv, launching dozens of hard-to-intercept rounds as Ukraine struggles with depleted air defense stocks. On Thursday, Russian airstrikes killed three people in eastern Ukraine, while four others were killed in Ukrainian attacks in Russia and annexed Crimea, according to authorities in the affected regions.
Rubio and Lavrov also discussed the conflict in the Middle East on Thursday, according to the Russian Foreign Ministry. Moscow has condemned Washington’s recent strikes on its Iranian ally.
© 2024 AFP
