Overview
- Lavrov told RIA Novosti he and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio remain in regular contact and that he is ready for an in‑person meeting.
- He condemned European plans to repurpose frozen Russian reserves as “a deception and a robbery,” warning Moscow would respond appropriately.
- The minister reiterated that Crimea, Donbass and what Russia calls “Novorossiya” are not up for negotiation.
- Ukrenergo announced scheduled outages of about 8–16 hours per day after attacks drove national power generation to zero, and Ukrainian reports said at least seven civilians were killed.
- Ukraine’s General Staff logged 196 engagements in 24 hours and reported 41 missiles, 54 airstrikes and 5,276 kamikaze drones used; the IAEA chief called nuclear safety “extremely precarious,” the Kremlin denied Lavrov was sidelined, and Axios reported $5 billion in U.S. weapons for allies bound for Ukraine is on hold during a shutdown.