Russia's top diplomat gives US' Rubio quotes alleging Ukrainian officials urged ‘destroying Russians'

Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Thursday that during their meeting in Kuala Lumpur, he gave US Secretary of State Marco Rubio quotes from Ukrainian officials that allegedly call for the destruction of Russians.

“We confirmed the position that President (Vladimir) Putin voiced, including on July 3 in a conversation with President (Donald) Trump,” Lavrov said after meeting with a group of his counterparts from Southeast Asia.

He claimed that the quotes were from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his top aides.

“Yesterday I passed on a small excerpt from quotes by Zelenskyy, (Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys) Shmyhal, (Presidential Office head Andriy) Yermak, (adviser Mykhailo) Podolyak, where they directly talk about the need to ‘destroy the Russians.' Legally, and better yet, physically,” he said.

He further accused Ukraine of pursuing “territorial integrity” only to suppress the rights of Russian-speaking people and “physically destroy those who disagree.”

Russian officials have repeatedly accused Ukraine of starting the Russia-Ukraine war, which began in February 2022, as well as oppressing ethnic Russians living in Ukraine.

Asked about Washington's recent remarks on a new Russian proposal to resolve the war, Lavrov replied: “I want to answer with the words of Donald Trump – that's what I'll tell you.”

Lavrov also said the pair did not address a leaked audio file from 2024, before Trump returned to the White House, of him allegedly threatening to bomb Moscow and Beijing, brushing it off with the remark: “We discussed serious things.”

He added that the fate of the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) was also not discussed.

The meeting marked the first in-person encounter between Lavrov and Rubio since their initial phone contacts and a February meeting in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where they agreed to work toward normalizing bilateral relations.

Lavrov is on a two-day visit to Malaysia for the Russia-Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) foreign ministers' meetings. He is also scheduled to attend an East Asia Summit and an ASEAN regional security forum.