U.S. Ready to Intervene as Russia Escalates Threat to Ukraine

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio. (Wikimedia Commons/U.S. Department of State/Freddie Everett)

JAKARTA - Foreign Minister Marco Rubio said on Tuesday, the United States remains ready to mediate the war between Russia and Ukraine, after Moscow threatened to launch a new attack on Kyiv.

Russia's warnings, including calls for foreign diplomats to leave the Ukrainian capital, mark a new escalation in the war that has lasted more than four years, with Moscow vowing a "systematic" offensive against Kyiv, including against "decision-making centers."

Rubio's offer came after Russia pounded Ukraine over the weekend - including firing an Oreshnik hypersonic missile - and after a phone call with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

"Every time you see a major attack from one side or the other, it's a reminder of why this is a terrible war that has lasted longer than World War II, and needs to end," Foreign Minister Rubio told reporters during an official visit to India, launching Al Arabiya from AFP (26/5).

"The United States is ready and prepared to help do whatever we can to facilitate the end of this war, and hopefully that opportunity will present itself at some point in time," he said.

"Russian shelling killed a 45-year-old man in Odessa last night," regional official Sergii Krasylenko said on Telegram on Tuesday morning.

Russia's weekend attack - involving dozens of drones and missiles - killed four people and caused widespread damage across the Ukrainian capital.

Among the weapons Russia is using is the Oreshnik hypersonic missile, which can travel 10 times the speed of sound and is capable of carrying a nuclear warhead, according to Moscow.

The attack followed Russia's accusation that Ukraine attacked a vocational school in the Russian-occupied Lugansk region, killing 21 people. Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his military to retaliate.

"In the current circumstances, the Russian Armed Forces have begun to launch a systematic attack on Ukrainian military industrial facilities in Kyiv," the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement.

"Attacks will target decision-making centers and command posts. We warn foreign nationals, including diplomatic mission personnel and international organizations, to leave the city as soon as possible," he added.

Foreign Minister Lavrov delivered the warning to Secretary of State Rubio over the phone on Monday, urging him to evacuate US diplomats, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

When asked, Foreign Minister Rubio told reporters on Tuesday that Russia had "sent a notification to all embassies," not just the US mission.

Russia had previously called on foreign nationals and diplomats to evacuate Kyiv earlier this month, threatening a massive attack on central Kyiv if Ukraine disrupted a military parade on Red Square.

Western diplomatic missions in the city have rejected both warnings.

A spokesman for the French Foreign Ministry said on Monday: "We are used to Putin's threats. An evacuation is absolutely impossible."

Meanwhile, the EU Ambassador in Kyiv said on Facebook: "We are not going anywhere."

Ukraine itself called Russia's threats "rhetoric."

"We are now telling our partners that they should not give in to all this Russian blackmail," said Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha.

Russia launched its full-scale attack on Ukraine in February 2022. The conflict has since escalated into the deadliest conflict in Europe since World War II.

US-led negotiations to end the fighting have stalled in recent months due to conflicts in the Middle East.