Secretary of State Marco Rubio doubled down on President Trump’s demand for peace talks between Ukraine and Russia after the war escalated over a weekend with a series of intense bombings inside both countries.
Rubio told Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Sunday that both sides needed to engage in direct talks “to achieve a lasting peace,” according to the State Department.
The message came after Ukraine’s forces wiped out and damaged 41 of the Kremlin’s nuclear bombers and aircraft, attacking at least four air bases across Russia in a massive operation.
The attack, codenamed “Operation Spider’s Web,” took some 18 months of planning and is expected to deal a huge blow to Moscow’s efforts to launch long-range missile attacks on Ukrainian cities, Kyiv touted.
The strike came amid the largest Russian bombardment of the war so far, with the Kremlin launching more than 479 drones and missiles over the border early Sunday, according to Ukraine’s air force.
At least 12 Ukrainian soldiers were killed and another 60 injured when one of the projectiles hit an army training base more than 620 miles from the frontlines, officials said.
The attacks on Ukraine, which have ramped up in intensity in recent months, prompted Trump to slam Russian President Vladimir Putin as “crazy,” with the White House demanding Russia seriously participate in peace negotiations or face harsh sanctions.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed Sunday that his delegation will travel to Istanbul for a new round of direct peace talks with Russia on Monday.
Zelensky has repeatedly called on Putin to accept a 30-day, US-backed cease-fire agreement to lay the groundwork for a deal to end the war, which has raged on for more than three years.
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