Rubio repeats call that Ukraine war ‘needs to end’ after call with Russia’s Lavrov – Europe live

US secretary of state appears to downplay warnings from Russian counterpart to move diplomats out of Kyiv

US secretary of state Marco Rubio said that the war in Ukraine “needs to come to an end,” after his conversation with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov.

Responding to the strikes on Kyiv over the weekend and repeated warnings about more attacks planned in the coming days, Rubio said:

“Look, every time you see these big strikes from one side or the other, it’s a reminder of why this is a terrible war that’s now gone on longer than the second world war, and it needs to come to an end.”

“They sent a notice to all the embassies, and I think he was just calling me personally to tell me – they told all the embassies to – Kyiv’s going to be a very dangerous place – Kyiv’s been a very dangerous place now for a number of years.”

“Look, the danger in all of these wars as they continue and then they go on is that they always have the threat of escalation, of spreading into something new.”