Russia warns US against Ukraine arms sales as top diplomats meet in Manila

MANILA – Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned Washington against making “unacceptable” arms deliveries to Ukraine during a July 23 meeting with US counterpart Marco Rubio in Manila, Moscow said.

Lavrov told the US secretary of state “it was unacceptable to continue supplying weapons to the Kyiv regime”, the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement.

In their meeting held on the sidelines of a summit of South-east Asian foreign ministers, Moscow’s top diplomat also condemned what he called “a destabilising policy by European countries, which are still seeking to inflict a ‘strategic defeat’ on Russia”.

The first sit-down between Lavrov and Rubio since September 2025 comes as Washington’s focus has switched from mediating in Ukraine to dealing with war in the Middle East.

The US State Department said in a brief statement that Rubio and Lavrov – who made no statements to the press ahead of their meeting – had discussed the “US-Russia relationship and the need to end the Russia-Ukraine war”.

Lavrov, according to Moscow’s statement, reiterated that the Russian side was ready for a “political-diplomatic resolution to the conflict”.

Both top diplomats are in the Philippines for meetings of the Association of South-east Asian Nations (ASEAN).

They were also expected to discuss the conflict in the Middle East, which has seen Moscow condemn Washington’s strikes on its ally Iran.

Areas of cooperation

Rubio spoke briefly with Lavrov at a gala dinner on July 21, and the two participated in an ASEAN meeting on July 23.

“The war in Ukraine, I think, has in many ways impeded the ability of Russia and the United States to find areas of agreement on other topics,” Rubio told reporters on July 22.

“That doesn’t mean we won’t seek to find other areas of potential cooperation.

“But by the same token... we’d like to see that war come to an end,” he said.

On July 23, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he had spoken with US envoys in a bid to revive stalled talks aimed at ending the years-long war.

“I just spoke with President Trump’s envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. It was a good, important conversation on how to reinvigorate diplomacy and bring peace closer,” Zelensky said in a post on X.

US President Donald Trump has voiced support for Ukraine’s campaign of long-range drone strikes targeting Russian energy infrastructure, saying it could “help bring about an end” to the conflict.

In recent months, Kyiv has appeared to stall Moscow’s grinding offensive and has substantially expanded its drone strikes against Russia, disrupting ordinary life there in the war’s fifth year.

Moscow has meanwhile escalated its deadly missile strikes against Kyiv, launching dozens of hard-to-intercept rounds as Ukraine struggles with depleted air defence stocks. AFP