US sees progress in Ukraine peace talks but no final deal yet, Rubio says
Photo: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio (Getty Images)
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that following talks in Geneva with Ukrainian and European delegations, significant progress has been made toward establishing peace in Ukraine, Sky News reports.
"I feel very optimistic that we can get something done here because we made a tremendous amount of progress," he said.
Rubio added that he does not want to speak of a complete "victory" or a "finality." Much work remains on a peace agreement in Ukraine.
"There's still some work to be done, but we are much further ahead today at this time than we were when we began this morning and where we were a week ago for certain," he said.
Notably, Rubio did not make any statements committing to the deadline set by US President Donald Trump. Instead, he said an agreement could be reached "soon," and plans are under development.
"We just need more time than we have today. I honestly believe we'll get there," he concluded.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also praised the results of the first day of talks in Geneva between the Ukrainian and US delegations. According to him, much is changing, and President Donald Trump's team is beginning to listen to Ukraine.
Earlier, representatives from Ukraine and the US made similar statements. Rubio described the meeting as very productive. Head of Ukraine's Presidential Office Andriy Yermak said the meeting was "very productive."
Rustem Umerov, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council, said that the current draft of the document, whose amendments are still under discussion, already incorporates most of Ukraine's key priorities.
Meanwhile, the media has already released a separate Europe-Ukraine plan. The document is based on Trump's plan but differs from the original in several ways. For more details, read RBC-Ukraine's report.
