Moscow Opposes Arms Supplies to Kyiv as Lavrov Raises Concerns with Rubio

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met with his US counterpart Marco Rubio in Manila today, ahead of the Southeast Asia summit.

This was their first conversation since September 2025, when Washington had focused its attention on mediation efforts to end the war in Ukraine.

According to reports on the meeting, Russian representatives accused the US side of sending “unacceptable” quantities of weapons to Ukraine. In a statement, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Lavrov told the US secretary of state that “the continued supply of weapons to the Kyiv regime was unacceptable.”

The conversation lasted 30 minutes. Asked about the arms supplies mentioned by Moscow, Rubio said: “We sell weapons through PURL… There has been no change in our policy in this regard.”

The PURL initiative, launched last year, enables Ukraine to obtain US equipment purchased by Washington’s NATO allies.

Shortly before the meeting between Lavrov and Rubio, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that he had spoken with US envoys in an effort to restart stalled negotiations aimed at ending the years-long war.

Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump has backed Ukraine’s campaign of long-range drone strikes against Russia’s energy infrastructure. According to him, these strikes could “help end” the conflict.

In recent months, Kyiv appears to have succeeded in slowing Moscow’s powerful offensive. Ukraine has also significantly stepped up its drone attacks on Russia, affecting daily life there during the fifth year of the war.