Key facts
- Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov met with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
- Lavrov stated that continued US arms sales to Ukraine are "unacceptable."
- The meeting occurred on the sidelines of the ASEAN foreign ministers' summit.
- The situation in the Persian Gulf was also a topic of discussion.
- Ukrainian strikes reportedly killed four people in Russia and annexed Crimea.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov warned US Secretary of State Marco Rubio against continuing arms sales to Kyiv during a meeting in the Philippines. The discussion took place on the sidelines of the ASEAN foreign ministers' summit.
According to a statement from Russia's foreign ministry, Lavrov told Rubio that it would be "unacceptable" for the US to continue arming Ukraine. He also briefed his American counterpart on the "actual situation along the front line" and emphasized that further arming the "Kyiv regime" would be unacceptable. Lavrov reaffirmed Moscow's "readiness for a political and diplomatic settlement of the conflict."
The two officials also discussed the situation in the Persian Gulf, where the US is in conflict with Iran. US President Donald Trump has previously signaled support for Ukraine's long-range strikes against Russian energy infrastructure, calling it an "escalation" that could help lead to an end to the conflict.
Separately, Russian authorities reported that Ukrainian strikes killed four people overnight across Russia and Russian-occupied territories. In Crimea, two people were killed and five injured. In the Voronezh region, a drone crash caused a fire, killing a three-year-old boy. In Belgorod, one person was killed following an attack. Ukraine's air force stated that Russian forces launched a ballistic missile, five cruise missiles, and 168 attack drones, of which local air defenses reportedly neutralized 154 drones and two cruise missiles.