What happened
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned the United States against delivering arms to Ukraine and described such supplies as “unacceptable.” The warning was conveyed to U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio during a meeting in Manila on the sidelines of an ASEAN-related foreign ministers summit.
The Russian foreign ministry said Lavrov condemned continued weapons supply to the Kyiv government and said the arms flow was destabilising and aimed at delivering a “strategic defeat” to Russia. Lavrov also reiterated that Russia was willing to resolve the conflict through political and diplomatic means.
Background and earlier position
The Russia–Ukraine war has repeatedly seen a gap between battlefield escalation and diplomatic engagement. Western military assistance to Ukraine has remained one of Moscow’s central objections, while Russia has continued to say that negotiations remain possible if political channels are used.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke with U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner in an effort to restart stalled negotiations aimed at ending the war.
Related current affairs
- Towards a more European alliance
- Russian drones kill 14 people at a mall in a central Ukrainian city
- Russian strikes/Ukraine missile shortage (photo + caption block)
- Russian strikes kill 16 in Ukraine; Zelenskyy flags missile shortage
- India set for record soybean import on Russia-Ukraine war
- Global partners greet India, reaffirm bilateral relations