Russia has telegraphed plans for a series of “systematic” strikes against the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, warning foreign embassies to “evacuate”, prompting Marco Rubio to warn against escalation and the risk of the Ukraine War “spreading into something new”.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke while aboard Air Force Three during his official visit to India, laying out details of a call he’d received from Moscow’s Sergey Lavrov on Monday in which the top Russian diplomat is said to have complained about European involvement in the war on Kyiv’s behalf, and advised America to withdraw its personnel from the city.
Per a Kremlin readout of the call, Russian Foreign Service veteran Lavrov told Rubio that “in response to the Kiev regime’s continued attacks against civilian population and infrastructure in Russia, the armed forces of the Russian Federation were beginning systematic and consistent strikes against military sites and corresponding decision-making centres in Kiev”.
Both Ukraine and Russia have long accused each other of launching strikes against civilian populations and infrastructure while claiming their own strikes only aim at legitimate military targets. Ukraine has carried out effective strikes in recent days against a Russian oil depot, for instance, which Kyiv said is a crucial supplier of fuel to the Russian military fighting in the war. As noted by The Guardian, Kyiv’s drone strikes have also taken out water and power supplies in the Russian Belgorod region, which directly borders Ukraine.
Because of the revenge strikes it was planning to launch against the Ukrainian government in the centre of Kyiv, the Kremlin said it had reached out to the United States to “ensure the evacuation of their diplomatic personnel and other citizens from the Ukrainian capital”.
Discussing the call with his Russian counterparts to reporters while in flight, Rubio shrugged off the warning and noted that Kyiv is always dangerous, and obliquely warned Russia against considering escalation. He said:
Well, they sent a notice to all the embassies, and I think he was just calling personally to me what they’ve told all the embassies that Kyiv is going to be a very dangerous place. But Kyiv has been a very dangerous place for a number of years.
The danger in all these wars as they continue and they go on is that they always have the threat of escalation, of spreading into something new… This is what happens with these wars, they just continue to escalate. There’s a big strike coming one way, there’s a bigger strike coming back. Look, every time you see these big strikes from one side or the other, it’s a reminder of why this is a terrible war that’s now gone on longer than the Second World War, and it needs to come to an end.
Having said the war needs to end, Rubio underlined Washington’s determination to play peacemaker, saying the U.S. is “always prepared to play a constructive, helpful role” and is “ready and prepared to help do whatever we can”.
While Rubio offered no further details, the Kremlin readout claimed the conversation had also involved their man Lavrov protesting about Europe’s involvement in the Ukraine War.
This is a longstanding complaint of Moscow’s, which wants to isolate Ukraine from its neighbours and allies by recasting the war as a private issue between Moscow and Kyiv, and that European capitals are privately benefiting themselves by prolonging the fight by aiding Ukraine. In this case, the complaint was framed as being about “high-handed efforts of the European elites” to undermine peace.
Per the Kremlin, Rubio and Lavrov also discussed Cuba and Iran.
Rubio’s physical shoulder shrug — as caught by news cameras — at the notion of Kyiv becoming too hot for American diplomats gave the clear implication that Washington would not avail itself of Russia’s advice to evacuate.
The American stance appears to have been taken up by others, too. European Union Ambassador to Ukraine Katarína Mathernová said her mission was also planning on staying put, stating: “Russia wants fear, panic, isolation of Ukraine. It will not work. The EU is not going anywhere. We are staying in Kyiv. We are staying with Ukraine”.
Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs thanked the diplomatic missions of other countries for their vote of confidence by remaining in the city and for rejecting Russian “blackmail”. They said in a statement: “Against this backdrop, the new Russian threats are nothing more than shameless blackmail. Moscow is effectively admitting that its shelling is aimed, in particular, at intimidating the foreign diplomatic corps. This admission will serve as valuable evidence in international legal proceedings against the aggressor state”.