US Secretary of State Marco Rubio downplayed suggestions that Moscow was urging the US to evacuate embassy staff from Kyiv, saying Russia had instead issued a broader warning that diplomatic facilities in the Ukrainian capital remained at risk. Speaking to reporters in India, Rubio said Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov had conveyed a message from President Vladimir Putin intended for President Donald Trump, which Rubio said he passed on.JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official. Rubio’s comments came after Russia’s Foreign Ministry said Lavrov had informed him of Moscow’s decision to begin “systematic strikes” on sites in Kyiv linked to Ukraine’s military and decision-making centers. Moscow also recommended that foreign governments remove diplomatic personnel and citizens from the capital, according to the Russian Foreign Ministry. Rubio sought to play down the idea that the message amounted to a direct Russian request for the US to pull its diplomats out of Kyiv. “The danger in all of these wars, as they continue and then they go on, is that they always have the threat of escalation,” Rubio told AFP’s Shaun Tandon. The Russian threat has drawn fresh condemnation from Ukraine’s partners, many of whom have maintained diplomatic missions in Kyiv despite repeated Russian missile and drone attacks throughout the full-scale war. Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry condemned the Russian warning as “shameless blackmail” aimed at intimidating the international community, and urged partners to respond by increasing pressure on Moscow and strengthening support for Ukraine, including air defenses.