The Russian government said on Tuesday it had warned U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio to evacuate diplomats and U.S. citizens from Kiev, as the Russian government plans a new attack on the Ukrainian capital.
The Kremlin said Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, in a phone call with Rubio on Monday, “officially informed” Washington that Russia plans to launch a “systematic and consistent attack” on Ukrainian military facilities and what the Kremlin 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 foreigners, diplomatic personnel and international organizations to leave Kiev and warned that it was prepared to target the capital, especially its facilities for designing, manufacturing and programming drones.
“The airstrikes will target decision-making centers and command posts,” the statement said.
“As the above-mentioned facilities are scattered throughout the city of Kyiv, foreign nationals, including employees of diplomatic missions and international organizations, are being informed of the need to leave the city as soon as possible.”
The Russian government also warned Kiev residents not to use military or government facilities or infrastructure.
According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, Mr. Lavrov emphasized his warning to Mr. Rubio in a telephone conversation on Monday.
In a readout of the conversation, U.S. State Department spokesman Tommy Piggott said Mr. Rubio met Mr. Lavrov at his request.
“The parties exchanged views on the Russia-Ukraine war, bilateral relations, the situation in Iran, etc.,” he said.
According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, Lavrov “expressed regret” over the impasse over the Russia-Ukraine peace agreement.
Last year, the United States led talks between Russian and Ukrainian delegations to end the war between the two countries.
After months of diplomacy, negotiations reached a stalemate, with concessions of Ukrainian territory to Russia remaining a sticking point.
Earlier this month, US President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin said the conflict could soon end.
“I really think the end of the Ukraine war is very close,” Trump told reporters at the time.
But Rubio told reporters on Friday that U.S.-led efforts to negotiate a peace deal are over, describing previous talks as “not fruitful.”
“At the moment no such talks are taking place, but we hope that the situation will change because the war can only end with a negotiated settlement,” he told reporters. “It will not end with a military victory for either side.”
He said the United States would continue to monitor peace talks if they are constructive, adding: “No other country appears to be open to peace talks at this time.”
“We’re not going to engage in an endless cycle of meetings that produce nothing,” Rubio said.
Before returning to the White House to campaign for a second term, President Trump said the Ukraine war could be resolved in one day.
Russia began a full-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 a repeated target of Russian attacks since the 2022 invasion. Over the weekend, the city was hit by new attacks, including what was reported to be the largest missile launch since the start of the war.
