Ukraine and Iran at the center of a phone call between Marco Rubio and Sergey Lavrov

6th May 2026

1 minute read

Ukraine and Iran at the center of a phone call between Marco Rubio and Sergey Lavrov

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio held a phone conversation with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov, according to the U.S. Department of State, on a day marked by deadly Russian attacks on several cities in Ukraine.

U.S. State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott stated in a brief release that the two ministers spoke at Lavrov’s request and “discussed U.S.-Russia relations, the Russia-Ukraine war, and Iran,” without providing further details.

Russian airstrikes on Ukraine killed at least 22 people on Tuesday, according to Kyiv, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky denounced Moscow’s “absolute hypocrisy” for carrying out the strikes as Kyiv seeks to reach a truce on the anniversary of the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany.

For its part, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that Rubio and Lavrov had a “constructive and businesslike” conversation.

It added that both sides “exchanged views on the current situation in international affairs and U.S.-Russia relations, and also discussed the schedule of bilateral contacts.”