Larry Johnson: What Did Lavrov and Putin Tell Rubio and Trump?

by Larry Johnson [6-4-2025 published] Larry C. Johnson(bio).

What a difference a week makes. Early last week, Donald Trump was calling Vladimir Putin, “crazy,” and claimed he was hitting Ukraine with drones and missiles on May 24 and May 25 without justification. Whether or not Trump was truly ignorant of the facts that provoked Russia’s attack that weekend or was pretending to be uninformed, remains a matter of dispute. That was then.

Now Trump and his team are singing a different tune. Let’s follow the timeline:

Following two Ukrainian terrorist attacks on bridges in Kursk and Bryansk — in the case of the latter, the bridge fell on a civilian passenger train and killed seven people — and Sunday’s drone attack on five Russian airfields that host Russian strategic bombers, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov called US Secretary of State Marco Rubio late on June 1, 2025.

The sanitized State Department version claims that Lavrov wanted to discuss the ongoing conflict in Ukraine and the forthcoming peace talks scheduled for June 2 in Istanbul. During the discussion, both officials reportedly examined various initiatives aimed at resolving the crisis and emphasized the importance of direct negotiations between Russia and Ukraine. Secretary Rubio reaffirmed President Donald Trump’s commitment to supporting talks that lead to lasting peace and expressed condolences for the casualties resulting from recent attacks in Russian regions bordering Ukraine. Yep, Lavrov was sitting around in his pajamas and decided to ring up Marco for a casual chat. That’s the story we’re supposed to swallow?

Here is what I think really happened… Lavrov, at the direction of Vladimir Putin, called Rubio to deliver a stern message and a warning to President Trump. Lavrov conveyed Putin’s deep concern that the US played a role in facilitating these attacks and that the Russian government was prepared to take strong action because the attack on the airfields represented a direct threat to Russia’s nuclear capabilities. Lavrov was sending a simple, stark message: Russia is going to punish Ukraine and any countries that provided assistance, whether materiel or intelligence, to this act of war. I think Marco got the message.

The next day, June 2nd, Russia’s lead negotiator, Vladimir Medinsky, met with Ukraine’s Defense Minister, Rustem Enverovych Umerov, in advance of the formal meeting between the delegations of the two countries. Medinsky delivered an ultimatum to Umerov, i.e., this is your last chance to accept this deal or face worse consequences.

Trump was uncharacteristically silent on social media on Monday and Tuesday. I believe that he was alarmed by Lavrov’s message and, in meeting with his key national security advisors, tried to figure out how to defuse the situation.

We got our first clue on Tuesday, when Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth announced that he would not attend the June 4 meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group (UDCG). Secretary Hegseth’s absence from the June 4, 2025 meeting in Brussels marked the first time a US defense chief did not participate in a UDCG session. Hegseth did not attend the previous gathering in person, but he did make a Zoom appearance.

Then came Wednesday, June 4. We don’t know who initiated the call between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, but my money is on Trump. I posted Trump’s Truth Social post about that conversation at the head of this article.

Let’s focus on Trump’s spin about that exchange:

We discussed the attack on Russia’s docked airplanes, by Ukraine, and also various other attacks that have been taking place by both sides. It was a good conversation, but not a conversation that will lead to immediate Peace.

President Putin did say, and very strongly, that he will have to respond to the recent attack on the airfields.

No more name-calling by Trump. He is appropriately respectful, referring to “President Putin,” instead of describing Putin as crazy. I don’t know if this call took place before or after Putin’s televised meeting with his national security team, but Putin’s body language and tone of voice indicated controlled fury. I suspect he adopted the same posture with President Trump during their conversation. Trump left the chat with no doubt about Putin’s intention… he is going to respond in the strongest terms to the attack on the airfields.

Following that conversation, the US Embassy in Kyiv issued a Security Alert advising US citizens in Ukraine to exercise heightened caution due to an increase in Russian missile and drone attacks across the country. US citizens were urged to be prepared to shelter immediately in case of air raids or other attacks.

Message sent: message delivered. What is remarkable about Putin’s stance on the attacks last weekend is that this marks the first time he is openly accusing Ukraine, and “its supporters,” of terrorism. Quite a contrast to Putin’s previous responses to the terrorist attacks on the Kerch Bridge on October 8, 2022 and the Crocus City Hall on March 22, 2024. The attack on Crocus City Hall resulted in 145 fatalities and 551 injuries, yet Putin did not issue a warning like the one he did today.

Trump’s conversation with Putin also was noteworthy because it marked the first time that Trump confirmed he is talking to Russia about helping secure a deal to prohibit nuclear weapons:

We also discussed Iran, and the fact that time is running out on Iran’s decision pertaining to nuclear weapons, which must be made quickly I stated to President Putin that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon and, on this, I believe that we were in agreement. President Putin suggested that he will participate in the discussions with Iran and that he could, perhaps, be helpful in getting this brought to a rapid conclusion.

Putin knows that Iran does not have a nuke because he signed a security agreement with Iran’s president on January 17, 2025 stipulating that Russia would work with Iran on the peaceful development of nuclear energy. Trump needs a win on the foreign policy front and, if he is smart, he will agree to let Russia help him secure a deal acceptable to Iran.

Today, I discussed the Iran situation with Danny Davis: