Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov launched sharp criticism at Washington a day after a round of talks he held in Manila with his US counterpart Marco Rubio. He pointed to a tangible shift in the US administration's approach to the Ukrainian settlement, and accused Washington of retreating from previous understandings with Moscow, and that "its positions have come to align with the assessments of Europe and Ukraine."

The first meeting between the two ministers, held Wednesday on the sidelines of the ASEAN summit in Manila, appeared to fail in bringing the two sides' views closer. The ministers' statements revealed the extent of divergence in dealing with the foundations of a potential settlement in Ukraine. In response to Rubio's remarks about the need for "new understandings and ideas" to advance the settlement process, the Russian minister accused the United States of retreating from understandings reached with Moscow during the only summit that brought together Presidents Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump in Alaska last summer. Lavrov said Washington "changed its view of the Anchorage understandings and agreed with the assessments of Europe and Ukraine that the page of the Alaska summit agreements has been turned."

US Military Support

Lavrov strongly criticized Rubio's statement that "the Ukrainian settlement proposals put forward at the Russia-US summit in Alaska have failed," adding that "it is necessary to know who exactly failed." He said: "If we had specific proposals and an agreement was reached, then there must be agreed results in Anchorage, isn't that so? Of course it is. I won't reveal a big secret if I say that President (Donald) Trump stated repeatedly that our understandings constituted a compromise to some extent. We accepted it as a compromise, because any agreement must involve some mutual concessions."

Part of the meeting of the Russian and US delegations led by Lavrov and Rubio in Manila on July 23 (EPA)

Lavrov continued that "(Trump) confirmed that (Ukrainian President Volodymyr) Zelensky would implement what we agreed upon... but it did not work."

The top Russian diplomat pointed out that "this arrogant and haughty rejection (by Kyiv) of the US proposal is largely due to the fact that Zelensky receives huge quantities of weapons; he is supplied with massive amounts of drones which he uses to undermine Russia's stability by attacking civilians and civilian targets."

He added: "US aid constitutes a large part of this support for Zelensky, not only because they sell weapons to the European Union which then sends them to Ukraine, but also because the Americans provide (Kyiv) with intelligence (...) and advanced high technologies."

Lavrov indicated that Russia prefers a political solution, but it is "unable to do anything if the United States changes its approach, and has agreed with the assessment of European leaders and Ukraine that the Anchorage summit agreements have been buried," while emphasizing that Russia will "achieve its goals anyway."

Continuing Dialogue

In contrast to Lavrov's sharp criticism, the Kremlin sought to soften its tone. Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that "dialogue with the United States on settling the conflict in Ukraine continues." He added that the Russian side "is still awaiting a visit of its delegation to Moscow," in reference to earlier talk of a possible visit, repeatedly postponed, by US President's envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to Moscow.

Rubio during his participation in a meeting with Lavrov in Manila on July 23 (EPA)

Peskov said: "I don't want to be overly optimistic about progress in negotiations. There are contacts with the US side, and that in itself is positive. But we cannot talk about any progress or noticeable dynamics. We continue dialogue through channels with the Americans, and we hope that the US side, when circumstances allow, will visit Moscow and we will continue negotiations."

The Russian Foreign Ministry reported after the Lavrov-Rubio meeting that "during the discussion of the Ukrainian issue, Lavrov informed his US counterpart of the current situation along the line of contact, and emphasized the categorical rejection of further pumping of weapons into the Kyiv regime and the destabilizing policies pursued by European countries, which are striving to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia." It added: "Lavrov reaffirmed Russia's readiness for a political and diplomatic settlement of the conflict, and its commitment to the proposals put forward by the US side in Anchorage, which the Russian president agreed to."

Patriot Production System

But Rubio's assessment appeared completely different, and he announced after the meeting that Washington "intends to continue searching" for a path to end the conflict in Ukraine, and "there is a need" for new ideas and proposals to settle the Ukrainian conflict.

He added after the meeting: "I think both sides need incentives to end the conflict (in Ukraine). The difficulties lie in finding a mutually acceptable path. We have tried, and will continue to try, to understand whether we are able to find a compromise that leads to that. And we are ready to play a role in this regard."

Archive photo of US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin shaking hands in Anchorage, Alaska on August 15, 2025 (Reuters)

On another note, Poland proposed to the United States the establishment of a joint venture with Ukraine to produce missiles for Patriot air defense systems on Polish territory.

The Polish Press Agency (PAP) quoted Polish Deputy Defense Minister Magdalena Sobkowiak-Czarnecka as saying during a visit to Washington that she raised this initiative during meetings with officials in the Defense and State Departments. She said: "We proposed trilateral cooperation between the United States, Ukraine, and Poland. The goal is to ensure the security of the production process and establish it in a safe location."

She explained that this proposal came in response to a statement by the US president during a NATO summit about the possibility of producing components for Patriot systems in cooperation with Ukraine.

Notably, Germany had earlier hinted at its readiness to cooperate with Washington and Kyiv in assembling US missiles destined for Ukraine on its territory.

On the ground, the mutual escalation between Moscow and Kyiv continues, and last night witnessed violent attacks on both sides of the contact lines. Moscow announced that it repelled 571 Ukrainian drones targeting St. Petersburg and its surroundings as well as sites in a number of other Russian cities.

Lavrov during his participation in a meeting with Rubio in Manila on July 23 (AFP)

In contrast, a statement by the Russian Defense Ministry said that its forces continued to carry out comprehensive strikes using precision air-launched weapons and attack drones, targeting military infrastructure facilities in three Ukrainian ports.