Rubio After Negotiating with Russia: All Parties Must Compromise to End the Ukraine War

The U.S. Secretary of State states that ending the war between Russia and Ukraine requires all parties to compromise and concede some of their demands. Marco Rubio, on Tuesday, February 19, at the conclusion of talks with Russian officials in the Saudi capital regarding sanctions against Moscow, reminded that these actions are a result of Russia's military aggression against Ukraine and that the United States did not impose sanctions alone. He added that the European Union should be brought to the negotiating table since 'they have also imposed sanctions (against Russia).' The U.S. Secretary of State, accompanied by the National Security Advisor and Donald Trump's representative for Middle Eastern affairs, negotiated with Sergey Lavrov, the Russian Foreign Minister, and his accompanying delegation in Riyadh, stating that if the war in Ukraine is to end, relations between Washington and Moscow could grow. Marco Rubio mentioned that there are 'extraordinary opportunities' for cooperation with Russia, but the key to achieving them is to end the fighting in Ukraine. The U.S. and Russian officials discussed the Ukraine war in Riyadh, marking the first direct negotiations between the two countries' officials since Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Hours after the U.S.-Russia talks concluded, the French Foreign Ministry announced that Marco Rubio had a phone conversation with his counterparts from France, Britain, Italy, Germany, and the EU's foreign policy chief. According to this report, the U.S. Secretary of State discussed his meeting and negotiations with the Russian Foreign Minister with European officials. On the other hand, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who traveled to Turkey, once again criticized the negotiations between the U.S. and Russia without Ukraine's presence. He stated that talks between Russian and American representatives about Ukraine are being held 'without Ukraine's presence.' Meanwhile, on Monday, Keith Klag, Donald Trump's special representative for Ukraine and Russia, assured that a peace agreement would not be imposed on the Ukrainian government. Tommy Bruce, a spokesperson for the U.S. State Department, announced after the meeting of U.S. and Russian officials in Riyadh that both parties agreed to establish high-level delegations to begin a path to end the conflict in Ukraine as quickly, sustainably, and acceptably as possible for all parties. He further stated that President Donald Trump wants to stop the slaughter: 'The United States seeks peace and will use its power in the world to bring countries together. Trump is the only world leader who can bring Russia and Ukraine to an agreement.' Yuri Ushakov, an aide to Vladimir Putin on foreign affairs, told reporters after four hours of negotiations with U.S. officials: 'This was a very serious discussion about all the topics we intended to raise.' While Kyiv and its European allies are following these negotiations with concern, a U.S. official stated that 'Moscow has raised a new and important demand.' He did not provide details about this demand, but Maria Zakharova, spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Ministry, told reporters in Moscow that NATO's refusal to accept Ukraine into the alliance is not enough; rather, it must go further and cancel the promise made at the 2008 Bucharest summit regarding Kyiv's future accession to NATO. She stated that otherwise, this issue will continue to 'poison' the atmosphere of the European continent. The Ukrainian President has always demanded NATO membership as 'the only way to guarantee Kyiv's sovereignty and independence' against its nuclear-armed neighbor. Europe and Ukraine are concerned that Donald Trump may reach a hasty agreement with Vladimir Putin that disregards their security interests, rewards Moscow for its aggression, and allows the Kremlin to threaten Ukraine or other countries in the future. Critics say that Trump's team has already given significant concessions to the Kremlin by rejecting Ukraine's NATO membership and calling Kyiv's demand to reclaim all its territories occupied by Russia a 'delusion.' On the other hand, Trump's representative for Russia and Ukraine stated that the U.S. government will consider the issue of providing security guarantees for the possible deployment of European peacekeeping forces in Ukraine later. The U.S. President stated on February 17 that he believes Vladimir Putin 'wants the conflict to end, and to end soon,' and his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky, 'wants the same.'