Lavrov and Rubio talk as Chernobyl shelter damage emerges
A look back at 15 February 2025, when Washington and Moscow held their first foreign-minister-level contact in almost two years, a day after the Chernobyl strike.
What did the first top-level US–Russian diplomatic contact in almost two years cover? On 15 February 2025, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke by telephone. They discussed the Russo-Ukrainian War, the Gaza war, sanctions against Russia and the removal of restrictions on each country's diplomatic missions. They also discussed preparations for a high-level summit in Saudi Arabia.
A strike on the Chernobyl shelter
The call came a day after a drone struck the New Safe Confinement structure, which houses the site of the Chernobyl disaster. On 14 February 2025, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said a Russian combat drone had caused significant damage to the structure but had not raised external radiation levels.
As reported later in background accounts, the drone was said to carry a high-explosive warhead and was part of an attack involving 133 drones on Ukraine that night. Russia denied the allegations and claimed that Ukrainian officials made them to disrupt peace negotiations.
Sanctions at home
On 13 February 2025, two days before the call, Zelenskyy introduced sanctions against several oligarchs and individuals. They included former president Petro Poroshenko, Viktor Medvedchuk, Kostyantyn Zhevago, Ihor Kolomoisky and Hennadiy Bogolyubov. The measures were taken on suspicion of treason and aiding a terrorist organisation, in connection with their alleged role in undermining national security through unfavourable business deals with Russia.
Taken together, the three days showed Kyiv dealing with a strike on a sensitive nuclear site and domestic sanctions while Washington and Moscow reopened a high-level channel and began planning a summit in Saudi Arabia.
