Marco Rubio says ‘new ideas’ needed to end war in Ukraine after meeting Russia’s Lavrov – Europe live

Key events

Zelenskyy under growing pressure to reinstate sacked defence minister

in Dnipro

Over in Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy remains under growing pressure to reinstate his sacked defence minister on Wednesday, after campaigners said they would continue indefinite nationwide protests until Mykhailo Fedorov got his job back.

Former Ukrainian defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov summarizes his work in office during a press conference last week. Photograph: Global Images Ukraine/Getty Images

On Tuesday, Zelenskyy bowed to public demands by firing Ukraine’s commander-in-chief Oleksandr Syrskyi. He appointed Mykhailo Drapatyi as the new head of the country’s armed forces, as part of a radical reshuffle of the top military command.

But Zelenskyy’s attempts to defuse popular anger by offering Fedorov a new government role so far appear to have failed. Fedorov has reportedly turned down the post of deputy prime minister for technological development.

Instead, he wants to be reinstated as defence minister, arguing that it is the only way of implementing his ambitious plan for modernising and reforming Ukraine’s army.

The post is no longer vacant after Zelenskyy appointed a special forces commander, Yevhenii Khmara, as acting minister.

Protesters have called for a rally to be held on Friday evening outside Zelenskyy’s presidential office in Ivana Franka Square, Kyiv. The announcement – made by prominent veteran Dmytro Koziatynsky – suggests that Ukraine’s political crisis is likely to roll into a second week.

“We should not forget about the second demand of the protest – to return Mykhailo Fedorov to the position of minister of defence,” Koziatynsky wrote on social media. He added: “We must do everything possible to ensure that the government hears and satisfies all the demands of society.”

Russia warned US against continuing 'unacceptable' arms deliveries to Ukraine

Since one of the questions was on the Russian readout from the Rubio-Lavrov meeting, let’s bring you the details of what it actually said (10:15).

Russia warned the United States against making “unacceptable” arms deliveries to Ukraine, the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement, reported by AFP.

Foreign minister Sergei Lavrov “stressed that it was unacceptable to continue supplying weapons to the Kyiv regime” in a meeting with Rubio in Manila, it said.

Lavrov also condemned “a destabilising policy by European countries, which are still seeking to inflict a ’strategic defeat’ on Russia,” in their meeting held on the sidelines of an Asian summit.

The encounter – the first between Lavrov and Rubio since September 2025 – comes at a time that Washington’s focus has switched from mediating in Ukraine to dealing with war in the Middle East.

And that ends Rubio’s presser.

Trump thinks 'it's a stupid war' and US is 'ready to go' when there's an chance to get a deal on Ukraine, Rubio says

Rubio gets asked about a Russian readout from his meeting with Lavrov, and a suggestion that the US should not be selling arms to Ukraine.

He doesn’t recognise these statements, and says there has been no change in the US policy.

But he adds:

“We want a peace deal. We want the war to end. We’re prepared to play whatever positive role we can to end the war, and that in order to end this war will require something that both Russia and Ukraine can agree to.

That’s not going to happen at a press conference. That’s not going to happen in one meeting here in the Philippines. That’s going to require a lot of work.

We invested in the past in it. It was unsuccessful, at least unfruitful at the time. If conditions and factors have changed to make that possible, we’re ready to go.

The president’s committed to that, and every single day, if we identify an opportunity to make a difference in that, we will.

Because in the end, what the president … here’s what he most cares about: that people stop dying, that people stop being slaughtered, that Ukraine no longer can go on and live in peace, and Ukrainians can move back to their country and rebuild it. That young Russians aren’t being killed at the tune of 5,000 a week in the battlefield.

He thinks it’s a stupid war. He thinks it’s a senseless war. And if we can play a role in bringing it to an end, we’re going to use the power and influence of the United States to do so. And we’re prepared to do that if the opportunity presents itself. And I hope it does. And that’s what we’ve communicated consistently to both sides.”

Ukraine peace will require 'new ideas' to break deadlock in talks, Rubio says

Rubio says there will need to be “new ideas” put on the table to reach an agreement on ending the war in Ukraine, as the proposals put forward so far were “not acceptable to Ukraine at the time, and I don’t think it’d be acceptable to them either; in fact, probably less acceptable to them.”

“If, when peace comes, it’ll be because of some new idea and some new concepts, and we’re prepared to offer some of those in the right setting and form if the opportunity presents itself and the conditions are right. We’re prepared to play that role in a positive way.”

US will 'continue to see if we can find a middle ground' to end war in Ukraine, Rubio says

US secretary of state Marco Rubio is speaking to reporters in Manila now, after meeting with Russia’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov and attending the Asean summit earlier today.

He says he had “a good, frank conversation” on the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which is “a very bloody war,” with the Russians now “suffering strikes deep in their territory; something you did not see at the end of the year.”

And “the winter’s still going to hit Ukraine, and they’re you know obviously going to have to defend their airspace.”

He continued:

“Ukraine’s played a tremendous price as well. We’ve seen you know civilian deaths, strikes in Kyiv. … This war has not been good for Ukraine either. So I think both sides should have an incentive to bring it to an end.

That’s been the challenge: [finding] an end that both sides can accept. And we’ve tried, and we’ll continue to try to see if we can find a middle ground that brings this about, and we’re prepared to play that role if the opportunity presents itself. We express that today, and we’ve expressed it in the past.”

EU sanctions 'continue to weaken the economic foundations of Russia's war effort,' von der Leyen says

European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen welcomed the adoption of the 21st package of sanctions, saying they “continue to weaken the economic foundations of Russia’s war effort.”

“We’re adding 32 more Russian banks to our transaction ban list. As well as crypto firms and oil trading platforms.

Freezing the oil price cap adjustment for a year, so that the Russian war machine does not benefit from market shocks.

For the first time, we’re targeting vessels assisting Russia’s shadow fleet.

And we took an important step towards formally banning Russian combatants from entering the EU.

Many thanks to Ireland for facilitating this agreement.”

EU bows to pressure from Greece on LNG to get 21st package adopted - snap analysis

in Brussels

After weeks of delay the EU has reached agreement on the latest package of sanctions against Russia, by handing a concession to Greece.

The Revithoussa LNG terminal near Athens, in Megara, Greece. Photograph: NurPhoto/Getty Images

The EU’s 27 ambassadors reached a political agreement on the 21st round of sanctions, an EU diplomat said, after a final round of talks on Thursday morning.

Talks wrapped up quickly on Thursday morning, after discussions described as “heated” on Wednesday, as Athens upheld its veto.

Greece has secured a one-year exemption from an earlier EU sanctions measure, enabling it to transport liquefied natural gas to non EU countries, as long as the contract was signed before Russia’s full-scale invasion. The carve out protects a large Greek shipping company, Dynagas, that specialised in transporting LNG from Russia’s Yamal fields.

The Greek government sought an exemption on the phase out of transporting Russian gas due to take effect on 1 January 2027 – despite having agreed to the measure in October 2025.

In pursuit of this goal it had blocked the entire 21st round of sanctions, which includes measures targeting crypto companies, banks and oil traders helping Russia evade sanctions. Now Athens has secured a carve out.

The package includes an agreement to extend the current oil price cap on Russian revenues for a further 12 months, preventing Russia from taking advantage of rising oil prices as a result of the blockade of the strait of Hormuz. The EU’s oil-price cap was due to go up automatically in August, heaping pressure to find an agreement.

The package also includes the highest number of sanctions on individuals in any package in the last four years, according to the EU diplomat.

But a plan to ban Russian ex-combatants from travelling to the EU appears to have been delayed, although there is a pledge to “bring forward the necessary measures”.

Morning opening: EU agrees on 21st package of sanctions against Russia

EU ambassadors have finally signed off on the 21st package of sanctions against Russia this morning, after their previous meetings failed to yield any results amid pressure from individual member states pushing back against elements of the deal.

The Ukrainian and the EU flags are seen side by side at the Berlaymont, the EU Commission headquarter in Brussels, Belgium. Photograph: Thierry Monasse/Getty Images

The technical work on the sanctions will now be concluded, and a written procedure for adoption will be launched this afternoon to formally put them in place.

The deal was reached shortly after the talks resumed early morning as ambassadors raced to avoid embarrassment of not finding a deal before the summer break.

I will bring you all the details as soon as we have them.

The move comes just hours after the top US diplomat, Marco Rubio, met with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, in Manila with the question of Ukraine high on the agenda.

It’s Thursday, 23 July 2026, it’s Jakub Krupa here, and this is Europe Live.

Good morning.