Russia tells US to evacuate its diplomats, citizens from Kyiv
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio. PHOTO: AFP
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called United States State Secretary Marco Rubio to advise him to evacuate US citizens and diplomats from Kyiv, as the Kremlin plans to continue heavy strikes on the Ukrainian capital, according to a statement published by the Russian Foreign Ministry on Monday, Bloomberg reported.
According to the report, citing the statement, the Russian foreign minister called his US counterpart at the request of President Vladimir Putin to tell him that Russia was launching systematic and consistent strikes against facilities in Kyiv as well as against the relevant “decision-making centres”.
Bloomberg wrote that Russia had bombed Ukrainian cities regularly, Kyiv included, since 2022. However, it added that this Sunday, Ukraine came under a massive Russian drone and missile barrage that included an Oreshnik ballistic missile.
🇷🇺🇺🇸📞 On May 25, Russia's FM #Lavrov & US Secretary of State @SecRubio spoke over the phone
Lavrov officially conveyed to the US: in response to the Kiev regime’s continued terrorist attacks, Russian Armed Forces are launching systematic strikes on Kievhttps://t.co/kCqkcxjO71 pic.twitter.com/ehUoTuCCNiMoscow framed the attack as retaliation for the recent Ukrainian drone attack on a college in the Russia-occupied Luhansk region that killed 21 students.
Further, Bloomberg added that Ukraine’s General Staff had said its forces hit the headquarters of a Russian drone unit operating in Starobilsk, and it rejected Putin’s allegation that civilian facilities were hit. Meanwhile, it reported that Moscow said it would continue a series of systematic retaliatory strikes.
In an earlier statement on Monday, the Kremlin urged all foreign nationals, including staff of diplomatic missions and representatives of international organisations, to leave Kyiv as soon as possible and advised residents of the Ukrainian capital to stay away from the military and administrative infrastructure, Bloomberg reported.
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On the call with Rubio, Lavrov also accused Europe and Ukraine of undermining agreements that Putin reached with US President Donald Trump during the 2025 summit in Alaska, Bloomberg wrote, adding that the two discussed the Strait of Hormuz and the situation surrounding Cuba, according to the Russian foreign ministry statement.
Trump returned to the White House in January last year pledging to bring a rapid end to Europe’s worst conflict since World War II. More than 16 months of diplomacy have failed to reach a breakthrough, Bloomberg wrote.
As Bloomberg has reported, the US said it would push for Ukraine to relinquish the Donbas region, consisting of Donetsk and neighbouring Luhansk provinces, if Moscow agreed to freeze the conflict along existing lines and drop claims to Ukrainian-controlled parts of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions. All those regions are internationally recognised as Ukraine’s sovereign territory.
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Rubio has recently spoken very pessimistically about the prospects of reaching a deal on Ukraine any time soon.
“There doesn’t appear to be anybody else in the world right now that can handle it,” he told reporters on May 22. “So we’re more than happy to do that if the opportunity presents itself to have constructive and productive talks. We’re also not interested in getting involved in an endless cycle of meetings that lead to nothing.”