Rubio says Ukraine and Russia closer to peace but still a long way to go
Photo: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio (Getty Images)
Ukraine and Russia are closer to a peace deal than they were before. But the US believes that the positions of the two sides are still far apart, Secretary of State Mark Rubio says.
According to Rubio, thanks to US efforts in the first 100 days of the Donald Trump administration, Ukraine and Russia are closer to a peace agreement than they have been in the past three years.
"Look, we’ve gotten closer. We – for the first time – we haven’t known this for three years – we kind of can see what it would take for Ukraine to stop. We can see what it would take for the Russians to stop. The problem is those two positions are still a little far apart," Rubio said.
The Secretary of State believes that achieving peace will require a real breakthrough very soon.
"There does come a point where the President has to decide how much more time at the highest levels of our government do you dedicate it," he added.
At the same time, Rubio noted that there are other important problems in the world besides the war in Ukraine, in particular the issues of China and Iran.
"Not that a war in Ukraine is not important, but I would say what’s happening with China is more important in the long term for the future of the world. Obviously, Iran’s nuclear ambition, all these other things that we have going on. So at some point in time, it either has to be something that can happen or we all need to move on," the Secretary of State said.
Negotiations on Russia's war against Ukraine
Ukraine and Russia are not currently holding direct talks to end the war. However, President Volodymyr Zelensky has stressed that he is not against any format of negotiations after the ceasefire.
Two rounds of negotiations were held in Saudi Arabia, where the US acted as mediators - there were separate meetings of the Ukrainian and American teams, as well as negotiations between Washington and Moscow. The negotiations were aimed at a comprehensive ceasefire, but Russia refuses to do so.
The US stated that it would not mediate in negotiations where there is no progress, and threatened that it could withdraw from them.
Recently, US Vice President J.D. Vance said that Russia's war against Ukraine will not end anytime soon.
