Talks seek progress on conflict
The United States offered to help find a mediated end to the Russia-Ukraine conflict on Thursday, during talks in the Philippines between US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
The talks followed an apparent recent increase in the intensity of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, with Russia's largest online retailer having been targeted repeatedly by Ukrainian drones and Russian missiles striking Ukrainian ports and ships.
Rubio and Lavrov "discussed the US-Russia relationship and the need to end the Russia-Ukraine war", a US State Department spokesperson said after the meeting.
Russia's Foreign Ministry said Lavrov emphasized to Rubio "the unacceptability of further arming" Ukraine, and told him European countries were pursuing Russia's "strategic defeat".
Thursday's session was the culmination of three days of talks between the US and Russia that touched on not only the conflict but also the conflict in the Middle East.
Before the meeting, Rubio said the US would offer to broker an end to the conflict "if that opportunity presents itself".
The meeting took place after a major reshuffle of the top level of Ukraine's defense department, as Kyiv had been targeting Russia's top online retailer, Wildberries.
The online seller, which claims to process 20 million orders a day via its massive network of giant warehouses, sells appliances, clothing, cosmetics, medicines, and a wide range of other products.
In recent days, Ukraine has used drones to attack four Wildberries warehouses, killing at least nine people. But Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky has insisted his country's attacks have not been aimed at disrupting the lives of ordinary Russians but at damaging logistics hubs that supply Russian forces with drone components and other equipment.
The Kremlin has denied that online platforms are being used to supply its military.
Russia has also launched intense attacks on infrastructure in Ukraine recently — hitting oil refineries, warehouses, and shipping ports.
