Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov called US secretary of state 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.Lavrov called his US counterpart at the request of Russian president Vladimir Putin to tell him that Russia is launching systematic and consistent strikes against facilities in Kyiv as well as against the relevant “decision-making centers,” according to the statement.The US state department said the two spoke at Lavrov’s request. “The parties exchanged views on the Russia-Ukraine war, bilateral relations, and the situation in Iran,” department spokesman Tommy Pigott said.Russia has bombed Ukrainian cities regularly, Kyiv included, since 2022. However, this Sunday, Ukraine came under a massive Russian drone and missile barrage that included an Oreshnik ballistic missile. Moscow framed the attack as retaliation for the recent Ukrainian drone attack on a college in the Russia-occupied Luhansk region that killed 21 students.Ukraine’s general staff has 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.Moscow says it will continue 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 organizations, to leave Kyiv as soon as possible and advised residents of the Ukrainian capital to stay away from the military and administrative infrastructure.Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov Lavrov called his US counterpart at the request of Russian president Vladimir Putin to tell him that Russia is launching systematic and consistent strikes against Kyiv. Photograph: Maxim Shipenkov/AFP via Getty Images Russia’s threats to Kyiv are not anything new given the constant strikes against the capital throughout the war, Ukrainian foreign ministry spokesman Heorhiy Tykhyi said on X on Monday. The US state department was not immediately available to comment on Lavrov’s statement.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, and the two men discussed the crisis in 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 the second World War. More than 16 months of diplomacy have failed to reach a breakthrough.The US had said it would push for Ukraine to relinquish the Donbas region consisting of Donetsk and neighboring 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 recognized as Ukraine’s sovereign territory.US secretary of state Marco Rubio attends a joint press conference in New Delhi on Tuesday. He has spoken pessimistically about prospects to reach any deal on Ukraine. Photograph: EPA Rubio has recently spoken very pessimistically about prospects to reach any 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 22nd. “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.”On Tuesday, Rubio added that there is “no active, scheduled negotiations ongoing with Ukraine.” - Bloomberg