Rubio says US ready to help end Ukraine war, but no quick deal in sight
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Thursday that the Trump administration is ready to help end the "senseless war" in Ukraine, but acknowledged
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Thursday that the Trump administration is ready to help end the "senseless war" in Ukraine, but acknowledged that there is no quick route to a deal and that diplomacy will need sustained effort and fresh ideas. Speaking in Manila after talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on the sidelines of the ASEAN foreign ministers' meeting, Rubio said earlier US-mediated efforts had been "unsuccessful or at least unfruitful". Still, he said President Donald Trump remained committed to the effort "if conditions and factors have changed to make that possible". Read Full Story Rubio told reporters, "That's been the challenge - an end that both sides can accept." He added, "We've tried, and we'll continue to try to see if we can, you know, find a middle ground that brings this about. And we're prepared to play that role if the opportunity presents itself." He also said, "We'll have to find new suggestions and new ideas" that are acceptable to both sides. After meeting Rubio, Lavrov did not respond to most questions from reporters. Russia's Foreign Ministry later said he told Rubio that further arming of Ukraine was "unacceptability of further arming" and accused European countries of pursuing Russia's "strategic defeat". The ministry said Lavrov also repeated Russia's readiness for "a political and diplomatic resolution of the conflict" and its commitment to agreements reached at a summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Trump in Alaska last year.
Rubio said there had been no change in Washington's military support for Ukraine, with weapons being bought by NATO allies and then sent to Ukraine. Separately, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said again on Thursday that his priority was to find a way to return to negotiations. The three days of closed-door ASEAN talks, which began on Tuesday, have focused on fighting in the Middle East and tensions in the South China Sea, where a fresh confrontation broke out on Thursday. Rubio said, "There's always going to be a concern that America is so focused on one place that it can't focus on another," but added that the US remains "engaged in Asia every single day" through partnerships and economic ties across the region. US efforts on Ukraine have also been overshadowed by the Iran war earlier this year. Rubio said renewed strikes by Washington and Tehran had intensified after an interim ceasefire collapsed. "The price will continue to get higher every single night until they come to their senses," he said. He also said Tehran was "begging" for talks, but Trump saw no point in responding because "Iran is clearly not ready to make a deal, at least not one they're willing to live by". Trump has warned Iran that the US would destroy an Iranian bridge or power plant each time Iran fired at a ship in the Strait of Hormuz.
The BriefWire