Ukraine-Russia peace talks could resume within weeks, Rubio says
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio (photo: Getty Images)
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio gave a cautious assessment of the prospects for renewed negotiations between Kyiv and Moscow, saying he was neither optimistic nor pessimistic during a press conference with journalists in Colombia.
According to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, talks involving US presidential envoys in Kyiv and Moscow over the weekend were substantive.
He noted that new ideas were put forward during the talks and that there was a certain general openness to the proposals. At the same time, Rubio warned that significant obstacles remain.
"So, um, I don't want to be overly optimistic, but I'm also not pessimistic in the sense that I think there's an opportunity over the next few weeks to develop a road map moving forward to restart talks and maybe reach a conclusion there that's acceptable to both sides," the Secretary of State said.
Trump's special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner held talks with Putin at the Kremlin on September 5. The meeting lasted more than three hours.
After that, they traveled to Kyiv and met with Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Kushner said at the time that the negotiation process was moving forward.
Following the visits to Moscow and Kyiv, Witkoff reported "substantive progress" in negotiations on ending the war and said that a schedule for further meetings had been agreed upon.
