Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov talked to the phone on Sunday night (1/6/25) with his US counterpart Marco Rubio mainly on the new round of talks with Ukraine In Constantinople, the Russian Foreign Ministry announced.
“They discussed the situation associated with the Ukrainian crisis,” the ministry said in a statement, on the eve of the talks with Ukraine in Istanbul.
The two officials “exchanged views on various initiatives aimed at a political settlement of the Ukrainian crisis, in particular on plans to resume direct negotiations between Russia and Ukraine in Constantinople on June 2,” he adds.
This conversation also takes place after the An unprecedented attack of Ukrainian unmanned aircraft on Sunday against the Russian Air Force.
Sergei Lavrov and Marco Rubio have had several telephone conversations in recent weeks. On Wednesday, the head of Russian diplomacy had explained Russia’s “preparations” ahead of the Istanbul talks.
The Russian news agencies, citing the ministry, also reported that during the conversation, Rubio expressed his “sincere condolences for the innocent victims” of rail accidents caused by the collapse of two bridges in Russia in Russia.
Russian officials said at least seven people were killed and 69 were injured when the two bridges were blown up and that an investigation into “terrorist acts” were being carried out. The bridges were in the Kursk and Bryansk regions, on the border with Ukraine, but no evidence at present shows that Kiev is linked to it.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said the authorities “are conducting a very thorough investigation. The culprits will be found and punished as they deserve”, he added.