The Secretary of State of the United States, Marco Rubiostated this Tuesday that Washington maintains its willingness to mediate to try to end the war between Russia and Ukraineafter Moscow threatened to launch new “systematic” attacks against kyiv and warned foreign diplomats to leave the Ukrainian capital.
“Every time you see these major attacks from one side or the other, it’s a reminder of why this is a terrible war that has already lasted longer than World War II, and it needs to come to an end.” Rubio declared to reporters during an official visit to India.
The head of American diplomacy added that “The United States stands ready and prepared to help do everything we can to facilitate an end to this war, and hopefully the opportunity will present itself at some point.”.
Rubio’s statement came after a new escalation between Moscow and kyiv, marked by Russian bombings over the weekend and by a telephone conversation held on Monday between Rubio and the Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov.
Over the weekend, Russia launched an offensive with dozens of drones and missiles against Ukrainian territory, attacks that left four dead and caused widespread damage in the Ukrainian capital. Among the weapons used were Oreshnik hypersonic missilewhich according to Moscow can travel at ten times the speed of sound and has the capacity to carry nuclear warheads.
In another Russian attack in the early hours of Tuesday, a bombing raid on Odessa killed a 45-year-old man, reported in Telegram regional official Sergii Krasylenko.
Moscow justified the new offensive after accusing Ukraine of attacking a technical school in the Russian-occupied Lugansk region, an incident in which, according to Russian authorities, 21 people were killed. After that episode, the Russian president, Vladimir Putinordered a military response.
The Russian Foreign Ministry stated in a statement that, “Under current circumstances, the Russian Armed Forces begin to launch systematic attacks on Ukrainian military-industrial facilities in kyiv”.
The portfolio added that “the attacks will target both decision-making centers and command posts… We are warning foreign citizens, including personnel of diplomatic missions and international organizations, to leave the city as soon as possible”.
According to Moscow, Lavrov conveyed that warning to Rubio during their telephone conversation on Monday and urged Washington to evacuate its diplomats from the Ukrainian capital. Asked about that contact, Rubio stated that Russia “sent a notification to all embassies”, and not only to the American mission.
It is not the first time that Moscow has made these types of threats. Earlier this month, Russia also asked foreign citizens and diplomats to leave Keiv when it threatened massive attacks on the center of the capital if Ukraine interfered with a military parade in Red Square.
However, several Western diplomatic missions rejected that possibility.
A spokesman for the French Foreign Ministry said on Monday: “We are used to Putin’s threats. It is out of the question to evacuate“The ambassador of the European Union in kyiv wrote on Facebook: “We’re not going anywhere”.
Ukraine also downplayed Russian threats as “rhetoric.” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga said: “Now we are telling our partners that they must not give in to all this Russian blackmail”.
Russia launched its large-scale offensive against Ukraine in February 2022, kicking off a conflict that became the deadliest in Europe since World War II.
Diplomatic efforts led by the United States to try to negotiate an end to the fighting have remained stalled in recent months, in a context of new military escalations and without concrete progress towards an agreement between Moscow and kyiv.
(With information from AFP)
