Secretary of State Marco Rubio says the U.S. is hopeful but realistic when it comes to brokering peace between Russia and Ukraine.
Speaking on multiple Sunday shows, Rubio explained that while last week’s Trump-Putin summit in Alaska made some headway, the two sides are still far from reaching a ceasefire.
“We identified some areas where there could be agreement,” Rubio said on ABC’s This Week. “But there are still big sticking points. We’re not anywhere near a deal yet.”
His remarks contrasted with U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff, who painted the summit as a win for Washington. Rubio, however, avoided giving specifics about what was actually discussed between Trump and Putin, stressing instead that the U.S. can’t impose agreements on either Russia or Ukraine.
Despite President Trump warning Moscow of “very severe consequences” if the fighting continues, Rubio poured cold water on the idea of more sanctions. “The second new sanctions go into effect, the talks collapse,” he told CBS’s Face the Nation. “That locks in another year, maybe more, of war and destruction. We want to avoid that if possible.”
Still, Rubio said there were some ideas floated in the meeting that Ukraine might be open to. Those concepts will be discussed Monday when European leaders and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy meet to review next steps.
According to Rubio, both Kyiv and Moscow will have to make concessions if they want the war to end. “Neither side wants to budge,” he said. “But without compromise, this won’t move forward.”
When pressed about whether the U.S. is insisting Russia withdraw its troops from Ukrainian territory, Rubio was cautious. “Territories will have to be on the table. Russia may have to give up some of what it’s holding now, but that depends on negotiations. The challenge is, neither side has been willing to give on these hard issues so far.” Photo by Gage Skidmore from Surprise, AZ, United States of America, Wikimedia commons.