Rubio on meeting with Russia: There was no negotiation on Ukraine
Photo: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio (Getty Images)
During the February 18 meeting between the US and Russia, there were no talks about Ukraine. The American side tried to determine whether the Russians were seriously committed to ending the war, stated US Secretary of State Marco Rubio during an interview, according to the State Department.
He emphasized that it was not about trusting the Russians, but rather about their actions - whether they are serious about stopping the war. "If they’re making maximalist demands that they know can’t be met, then we know they’re not serious about it," Rubio said.
"But we have to test that, right? It’s the only way you’re going to find out if this is possible or not. And we were very clear with the Russians. There was no negotiation. We didn’t sit down over a map and start drawing lines," the US Secretary of State stated.
According to Rubio, the US made it clear that if the Russians are interested in drawing lines, the US cannot do anything about it, just as they cannot cooperate economically or engage "on a bunch of other things."
At the same time, Rubio is confident that they want to draw lines, but "they can’t have it. That can’t happen until the war ends."
"And that was our point: If you want to have closer cooperation with the United States on a bunch of other issues around the world, both geopolitical and economic, that war has to end. And so we need to test to see how serious they are about it," Rubio added.
Negotiations between the US and Russia
The meeting between the US and Russian delegations took place on February 18 in Saudi Arabia and lasted for 4.5 hours.
The American delegation was represented by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, and Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff.
The Russian side included Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Kremlin Foreign Policy Advisor Yuri Ushakov, and CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund Kirill Dmitriev.
After the meeting, Fox News reported that the US and Russia had allegedly developed a three-stage peace plan.
According to Bloomberg, the goal of the talks in Riyadh was to prepare for a potential meeting between Trump and Putin, which could take place by the end of February.
