By John Helmer, Moscow
@bears_with
The question everyone in their warfighting chairs has been asking President Vladimir Putin, with a follow-up that no one is reporting:
What is Putin going to do to answer the escalation of drone war on the Russian mainland and deter the US and its allies from their war to destroy the Russian economy?
The President’s answer in public (so far) has been “Our responses will always be mirrored, wherever they try to strike at the territory of Russia, we will respond in a mirror, only several times more powerful. The enemy will feel it. He already feels it, I hope, and he will feel it several times more powerfully.”
That was last week (July 13).
Ten days is a long time in politics. On Thursday (July 23), there came this follow-up question: Why did the US Secretary of State Marco Rubio call Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to a meeting and then spend little more than thirty minutes telling Lavrov what he had come to say?
Answer: we cannot say for sure.
Best guess: Rubio gave Lavrov a warning. He told Lavrov he had been instructed by President Donald Trump to say that the US holds Russia responsible for providing precise location intelligence and targeting details to enable Iran’s drone forces to penetrate US air defences and strike at CIA and US troop bases in the Arab territories, killing Americans.
Lavrov replied that Putin had instructed him to say that Russia holds the US responsible for providing precise location intelligence and targeting details to enable Ukrainian drones to strike at Russian civilian targets, oil refineries, oil ports, shipping on the Black Sea and Sea of Azov, and consumer product warehouses from Moscow to Kazan, and deep into the Russian hinterland, killing Russians.
In short, this is Putin’s mirror. It is telling Trump and the warfighters in the White House that if they continue, with their European allies and the Kiev regime, to strike outside the Ukraine battlefield, killing Russian civilians, the response will be tit-for-tat against Americans. Furthermore, Putin had warned: “He already feels it, I hope, and he will feel it several times more powerfully.”
Lavrov’s communiqué reported afterwards: “The sides held an in-depth exchange of views on a broad range of bilateral and international issues in follow-up to the recent high-level contacts.”
“When talking on the Ukraine issue, Sergei Lavrov informed his American colleague about the real situation on the contact line, highlighting the inadmissibility of the continued supply of weapons to the Kiev regime and the destabilising activities of European countries, which are still seeking to inflict a ‘strategic defeat’ on Russia. Sergey Lavrov reaffirmed Russia’s readiness for a political and diplomatic settlement in Ukraine and its commitment to the proposals advanced by the United States at the meeting of President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump in Anchorage, which the Russian leader has accepted. They also talked about regional and international issues, including the situation in the Persian Gulf. Sergey Lavrov and Marco Rubio welcomed the resumption of full-scale contacts between Roscosmos and NASA, and spoke in favour of resuming interparliamentary exchanges and cultural ties. They also discussed the normalisation of conditions for the functioning of Russian and US diplomatic missions. An agreement was reached to maintain contacts between the two foreign policy agencies, including in the framework of the two countries’ activities at international organisations.”
Thirty minutes isn’t enough time for all of this, let alone an “in-depth exchange” on any of them – except for one. “Lavrov highlight[ed] the inadmissibility of the continued supply of weapons to the Kiev regime and the destabilising activities of European countries, which are still seeking to inflict a ‘strategic defeat’ on Russia.”
In this guarded fashion, and for the very first time, Putin has told Trump that if he continues to participate in killing Russians on Russian territory, Russia will strike to kill Americans in their bases.
Asked what had been said at the Manila meeting, Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov said: “I’d like to reiterate that the Foreign Ministry reiterated our position about preparedness for a peaceful resolution process.” About the attacks on CIA and US troop bases, Peskov also said: “I don’t think that reporting of any suspicions is a reason to comment.”
Public reporting of the Iran drone strikes on CIA targets isn’t new. That began with US officials leaking to the Washington Post on March 6.
Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2026/03/06/russia-iran-intelligence-us-targets/ Another US propaganda platform, Reuters of New York, has subsequently reported: “at this point there is no evidence. But we do have sources who are telling us that Russia did contribute technological upgrades to the drones that were used against the US Embassy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (March 3, 2026] , and that helped with the precision strike…”
What is new now, according to this Indian summary, is that the CIA targets struck then and since have included one in eastern Iraq, and others whose locations and times of attack have not been revealed so far. “No fatalities or injuries were reported at either CIA facility, yet the operational sophistication of the tandem-drone breach-and-penetrate tactic has forced U.S. planners to reassess the survivability of intelligence infrastructure co-located with diplomatic missions throughout the wider Middle East region.” “The suspected Russian component under scrutiny is the Kometa-M satellite navigation module, a jam-resistant Controlled Reception Pattern Antenna array that dramatically improves a drone’s resistance to electronic warfare and sharpens its terminal-phase targeting accuracy against hardened, defended installations. Debris recovered from a Shahed drone that struck RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus in March 2026 reportedly contained Kometa-M components identical to those pulled from Russian Geran-series drones deployed against Ukrainian targets, strengthening the technology-transfer hypothesis under active review.”
What is also new, Rubio admitted in a remark reported by the US press, is that the Iranian drone attacks have not only demonstrated precision in striking hitherto secret CIA operations bases, but they have also demonstrated manueverability to avoid and penetrate US air defences covering the bases. “A missile got through. We shot down almost all the missiles. One leaked through, hit the wrong place, and tragically, and it’s heartbreaking,” Rubio said after the attack.” Trump then tweeted on Monday: “Every time Iran kills an American Soldier they will pay for that killing many times over! This directive has been passed on to Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Daniel Caine, and every Leader in the Military. President Donald J. Trump“
.”.”
Source: https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/116953296612438865
Rubio met Lavrov on Thursday morning (July 23) local time. He tweeted: “Met today with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on the sidelines of the ASEAN Ministerial. We discussed the U.S.-Russia relationship and the need to end the Russia-Ukraine war.”
Sitting in first place beside Rubio was Russian-born US Ambassador to India, Sergio Gor (Сергей Гороховский; born in Tashkent on November 30, 1986) and next to him, Alison Hooker, the Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs. Hooker is Gor’s superior and formally outranks him by several grades. Why Rubio downgraded her at this strategically sensitive meeting is unclear.
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_kVVoC1_XU
Because he was the inviter and formal host of the meeting with Lavrov, Rubio had spoken first.
What he said to draw Lavrov’s reply was a warning that US intelligence had confirmed that Russian satellite and other intelligence and military technology was enabling Iran’s drone strikes to break through US air defences at CIA and troop bases in the Middle East, killing and wounding US agents and troops. Rubio warned Lavrov to stop or there would be US consequences.
That, Lavrov understood to mean, a threat of US escalation against Russian civilian and troop targets inside Russia.
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8534qX_YkFw
Rubio told reporters later that the meeting had been very brief: “you think we settled the war in Ukraine in our 30 minutes here in Asia? That’s not the way it works. Look, we had a good conversation, a frank conversation. I’m not going to tell you what we talked about, because these – diplomacy doesn’t work well when you run to the microphones afterwards. Suffice it to say – I’ll tell you what I told you yesterday. The United States, the President’s been clear that we want – if we can, we are prepared to play a constructive role in bringing about an end to a senseless war. And we’re ready to do that, and we of course expressed that, and we’ve expressed it in other meetings. So we talked about other things as well.”
Although the reporters were allowed a 10-second photo opportunity at the opening of the meeting, they were told by Rubio’s handlers not to ask questions. The handlers also placed a US reporter to announce audibly on tape: “Will you [Rubio] ask the Foreign Minister today about Russia helping to target US troops?” A second US reporter then repeated the question: “ Is Russia helping to target Americans. ”
A US reporter was also recorded shouting out the same question to Lavrov as he left the meeting. He replied: “Nice, nice hairstyle”.
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4wmG0GxIPc
In Rubio’s session with US reporters later in the day, the same line of questioning continued on the record:
“QUESTION: Did you talk to him about Russia sharing information with Iran targeting U.S. troops?
SECRETARY RUBIO: Well, who says that they are?
QUESTION: Are they not?
SECRETARY RUBIO: Who says they are?
QUESTION: Hegseth acknowledged that Russia was enabling in some ways, both Russia and China.
SECRETARY RUBIO: Yeah, but that’s a different question from what you just asked me. Who said that they were – they’re doing that?
QUESTION: There’s been reporting that there’s – are you —
SECRETARY RUBIO: Reporting in the media?
QUESTION: Yeah.
SECRETARY RUBIO: Oh, then it must be true.
QUESTION: So is it not true?
SECRETARY RUBIO: If it’s in the media, it’s a leaker. I’m not going to – let me say – let’s imagine that were true. I certainly wouldn’t discuss it in the press. I’ve already told you guys yesterday something and I was very clear about it. Nothing that Iran is doing – nothing that anyone’s doing to help Iran is in any way increasing their ability to target Americans.
What you need to all understand – because we’ve explained this repeatedly – is Iran has spent the better part of 20 years not just sponsoring terrorism but building long-range rockets, short-range missiles, and drones. And they were intending to build them a lot more. They were intending to double their stockpile. The stuff you’re seeing them use now, they were going to double that. And they were going to use that and hide behind that to say, we’re untouchable, we can now do a nuclear weapon, and you guys can’t touch us or we’ll overwhelm your air defenses, which is why the President had to address this threat…
QUESTION: In Ukraine, do you sense that the momentum is shifting a little bit in the conflict? And if so, does that manifest itself in these diplomatic discussions?
SECRETARY RUBIO: I think it’s a bloody war. I think it’s a very bloody war. I think Russia is now suffering strikes deep in their territory. That’s something you didn’t see. At the end of the year, the winter’s still going to hit Ukraine, and they’re obviously going to have to defend their airspace. People suffering every day, the – I think it’s the only conflict – I’ve been told it’s the only conflict that anyone in the military can recall where the killed-in-action rate is higher than the casualty rate. That’s how bloody it is. The Russians, I believe, are losing upwards of five to six thousand soldiers a week. That’s a staggering number.
QUESTION: Can you feel that with Lavrov? Does Lavrov sort of express that or acknowledge that in any —
SECRETARY RUBIO: Well, look, guys, I mean, when I have these talks, these things don’t work well unless I come out here and characterize what the other side is saying. Suffice it to say that I think it’s obvious to everyone that this war is very bloody. And look, Ukraine’s paid a tremendous price as well. I mean, we’ve seen civilian deaths, strikes in Kyiv. We’ve seen some of that increase. Certainly, I mean, this war has not been good for Ukraine either.”
Putin chaired a meeting of the Security Council at midday, Moscow time, on Thursday. Lavrov had not returned from Manila. The Kremlin communiqué said the discussion focused on “serial production of new and modernized samples of weapons, military and special equipment.”
Security Council meeting at the Kremlin, July 23: left to right: Putin, Valentina Matvienko (Federation Council President), Vyacheslav Volodin (State Duma Speaker), Andrei Belousov, Defense Minister (in uniform), Alexander Bortnikov (Director of Federal Security Service). In the Kremlin’s public editorializer, Vzglyad, published soon after the Manila meeting, the line was: “the talks between Lavrov and Rubio in Manila lasted only about half an hour. During this time, as a rule, the parties manage to voice several theses and, if necessary, clarify some questions. That is, these are not deep substantive negotiations…the demand of the Russian Foreign Minister for Washington [was] to stop pumping Ukraine with weapons. In fact, the Russian minister once again pointed out the real way to end the conflict.” The day before, Vzglyad had published a more explicit statement by Lavrov: “The Americans through the supply of weapons at the expense of the European Union and through the provision of intelligence – the Starlink system and much more – not just help, but directly participate in the guidance of Ukrainian weapons for targets, including civilian purposes, on Russian territory.”
This is how Trump goes to the brink of direct war with Russia; this is how Putin replies.
Before the details of the Rubio-Lavrov meeting became known during Thursday, click to view or listen to the live podcast discussion with Jamarl Thomas on Russia’s escalation and retaliation options, including the options for Russian attack outside the Ukraine battlefield.
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PdhrSs1PNW8 Podcast began at 7:15am US Eastern Time.
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