Rubio says
Washington — Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated “we’ve got a protracted methods to go” earlier than commencing any potential peace talks with Russia aimed toward ending the struggle in Ukraine, including that “nothing has been finalized” concerning doable upcoming conferences between U.S. and Russian officers in Saudi Arabia.
“We stand able to observe the president’s lead on this and start to discover methods, if these alternatives current itself, to start a course of towards peace,” Rubio stated on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” on Sunday.
Mr. Trump stated final week that he had a “prolonged and extremely productive telephone name” with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and introduced that he was directing Rubio and different members of his nationwide safety workforce to “instantly” start negotiations aimed toward ending Russia’s struggle with Ukraine. Mr. Trump additionally spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Rubio, talking from Israel the place he met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday, headed to Saudi Arabia Monday on the subsequent leg of his present journey abroad. Rubio famous that his journey had been scheduled earlier than Mr. Trump’s calls with Putin and Zelenskyy. He will likely be joined by nationwide safety adviser Mike Waltz and Steve Witkoff, Mr. Trump’s Center East envoy.
The secretary of state stated Putin “expressed his curiosity in peace” throughout his name with Mr. Trump, who he stated made clear “his need to see an finish of this battle in a means that was enduring and that protected Ukrainian sovereignty.”
On Sunday, Mr. Trump advised reporters that Putin desires to finish the struggle, including that he is anticipated to satisfy with the Russian chief in Saudi Arabia “very quickly.”
Requested whether or not he believes Putin is able to negotiate and make concessions with the intention to finish the preventing, Rubio stated the decision have to be adopted by motion, and that “the subsequent few weeks and days will decide whether or not it is severe or not.”
“One telephone name doesn’t clear up a struggle as advanced as this one,” Rubio stated. “However I can inform you that Donald Trump is the one chief on the earth that might probably start that course of.”
Rubio, who additionally met with Zelenskyy on the Munich Safety Convention on Friday, stated “we’ll see what occurs over the subsequent few days.” He stated if there’s a possibility “at any time limit” to “start to create a gap for a broader dialog” on ending the struggle, he would “discover it.”
“A course of in the direction of peace just isn’t a one-meeting factor. This struggle has been occurring for some time,” Rubio stated. “It is tough, it is sophisticated, it has been bloody, it has been expensive. So it won’t be simple to finish a battle like this, and there are different events at stake which have opinions on this as properly.”
The feedback come as retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg, the U.S. particular envoy for Ukraine and Russia who can be concerned with any potential peace talks, indicated that there can be parallel tracks of negotiations, with completely different events dealing with talks with Russia and Ukraine individually. That prospect has unsettled Ukrainian and European officers who worry being frozen out of negotiations between the U.S. and Russia.
Requested about his position within the course of, Rubio stated “proper now there is no such thing as a course of,” whereas including that he expects there’ll observe up conversations to “determine what a course of” may seem like.
“It is a bit untimely,” Rubio continued, saying there hasn’t been any “severe dialog.”
The secretary of state famous that if “actual negotiations” start, Ukraine will “should be concerned,” as will European nations, including that “we’re simply not there but.”
