The US has declined to condemn Russia over its warning about upcoming strikes on military-linked sites in Kiev in retaliation for Ukraine’s deadly attack on a college dormitory.
On Friday, Ukrainian drones struck an education facility in the Russian town of Starobelsk, killing 21 people, mostly young women, and injuring more than 60 others. Moscow has denounced the attack as a war crime and a deliberate terrorist act. Kiev has dismissed the accusation as “pure propaganda,” with its Western backers refusing to hold Ukraine accountable despite ample evidence of its involvement.
On Monday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov called US Secretary of State Marco Rubio to warn of “systematic and consistent strikes” on Kiev’s military facilities and “decision-making centers” while urging foreign nationals to leave the capital.
On Tuesday, Andrey Melnik, Ukraine’s envoy to the UN, shared a joint statement – signed by more than 50 nations, including Germany and other EU members, as well as the UK, Canada, and Japan – which condemned Moscow over what it described as “escalating attacks” and “threats by Russia to diplomatic institutions.” Moscow has never mentioned any plans to target either embassies or any other civilian installations.
The statement, however, conspicuously did not mention the US.
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Rubio likewise refrained from leveling any accusations, saying only that Kiev had “been a very dangerous place now for a number of years.”
“This is what happens with these wars – they just continue to escalate,” he added. “There’s a big strike coming one way, a bigger strike coming back – and that’s how these things unravel and keep going. It’s why the war needs to come to an end.”
Under the Trump administration, the US has acted as a key intermediary in Russia-Ukraine talks, although the process froze up amid the Iran war. In March, Vladimir Zelensky claimed that Washington was pressing Ukraine to withdraw from Donbass as a condition for providing post-conflict security guarantees – something Kiev has categorically been opposed to.
Rubio, however, dismissed the Ukrainian leader’s comments as “a lie,” insisting that the US was not “advocating” for Moscow but rather only relaying its stance.