Donald Trump has grown increasingly frustrated with Russian president Vladimir Putin as Moscow intensifies its attacks on Ukraine, US secretary of state Marco Rubio told Russia’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov.
The secretary of state expressed to Mr Lavrov that the US president had publicly expressed his disappointment that “there’s not been more flexibility on the Russian side to bring about an end to this conflict”, only a day after Ukraine reported a record-breaking aerial strike which saw more than 700 drones and missiles launched by Russia.
It was the second time Mr Rubio had met Mr Lavrov in person, on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations foreign ministers’ meeting in Malaysia for a “frank conversation” where they discussed a possible peace deal with Ukraine.
Mr Rubio’s statement comes as President Trump put his foot down during a cabinet meeting on Tuesday in which he said: “We get a lot of bulls*** thrown at us by Putin,” adding: “He’s very nice all the time, but it turns out to be meaningless.”
While Mr Trump’s support for Ukraine has been inconsistent since he entered the Oval Office, he recently vowed to send more defensive weapons to Kyiv days after the Pentagon decided to stall critical munition supplies to the war-torn country.
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky met with world leaders at the Ukraine recovery conference in Rome, where he described the “terrorism” of Russia’s increased drone strikes.
“Ukrainians now face attacks by hundreds of these drones every single night, and this is pure terrorism,” he said, hours after Ukraine’s air force reported 415 drone and missile strikes that had killed two people and injured more than 23 people. Particular damage was done to the capital, with nearly every part of Kyiv impacted by the drone and missile attacks.
Addressing his global counterparts, Mr Zelensky urged allies to “more actively” use frozen Russian assets for rebuilding, adding that Ukraine needs more air defence systems and missiles and urging allies to increase their investments.
“When Russia increases its attacks, we cannot have a shortage of funding for drone production.”
Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni announced at the start of the two-day conference that participants had pledged over €10bn (£8.6bn) to help rebuild Ukraine, with Ursula Von Der Leyen, president of the European Commission, announcing €2.3bn funding.
This will reportedly cover barely a fraction of the costs needed to rebuild the country; a report by the United Nations in February put the estimated total cost of reconstruction and recovery in Ukraine at €506bn over the next decade.
The updated joint Rapid Damage and Needs Assessment, commissioned by the Ukrainian government, the World Bank Group, the European Commission and the UN, covers damage incurred since the intensified conflict erupted in February 2022, up to the end of 2024.
As Russia increases the intensity of its drone strikes, the Kremlin has continued to insist that Russia does not think peace talks on Ukraine have stalled. Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that it still wants to achieve its goals there through peaceful political and diplomatic means.
He added that Moscow was waiting for Kyiv to give a signal on whether it is ready to start the third round of talks, which first kicked off in May in Istanbul.
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