U.S.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio pressed back versus accusations that the Trump administration has succumbed to Russia even before talks on ending the Ukraine war start, saying Washington first wants to see whether Moscow was serious.
President Donald Trump desires this war with Ukraine to end.
And he needs to know: Are the Russians serious about ending the war, or not severe about ending the war? Rubio said in an interview with journalist Catherine Herridge published on Thursday.
The only way is to evaluate them, to generally engage them and state, fine, are you serious about ending the war, and if so, what are your demands, Rubio said, including that he was not a fan of the majority of what [Russian President] Vladimir Putin has actually done.
However, he added: We eventually have to be able to talk with a nation that has, in some cases, the biggest tactical nuclear weapons stockpile on the planet, and the 2nd largest, if not the largest, strategic nuclear weapons stockpile in the world.
On Tuesday, U.S.
and Russian authorities met in Saudia Arabia for theirfirst direct talkssince Moscows February 2022 invasion, with both sides striking a positive tone while minimizing the possibilities of an instant advancement in Ukraine peace negotiations.During the talks, Rubio and his Russian equivalent Sergei Lavrov agreed to arrange groups to start dealing with a plan to end the war in Ukraine as soon as possible.
Rubio denied that the United States had actually kept Ukraine and its European allies out of the loop, saying Its unfair to say that we didnt seek advice from any person on it.
And I also think its silly to say, well, the Ukrainians are going be eliminated or the Europeans are going to be cut out.You cant ...
find a stop to a war unless both sides and their views are represented, he said in Thursdays interview.Rubio also addressed growing tensionsbetween Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Trump this week called Zelensky a dictator without elections after the Ukrainian leadersuggested that he was under the influence of Russian disinformation.
I think President Trump is very upset at President Zelensky and in many cases, truly so, Rubio stated, claiming that Trumps predecessor Joe Biden likewise had aggravations with the Ukrainian leader.He added that Washington appreciates the war in Ukraine due to the fact that it has implications for our allies and eventually for the world, even if it does not straight impact the daily lives of Americans.
There ought to be some level of appreciation here about this, and when you dont see it and you see [Zelensky] out there implicating the president of living in a world of disinformation, thats highly, very counterproductive, he said.AFP contributed reporting.