Rubio was in Saudi Arabia for peace talks Tuesday related to ending the current invasion launched by Russia in February 2022, and spoke with reporters, noting that while Ukrainians have "suffered greatly and their people have suffered greatly," and admitting that "it's hard in the aftermath of something like that to even talk about concessions," he said that it's "the only way this is going to end to prevent more suffering."
Russia invaded Ukraine in 2014 and seized lands including the Crimean Peninsula, and Ukraine has long refused any cease-fire agreement that includes permanently surrendering any of its captured lands.
The talks in Saudi Arabia set to begin Tuesday are the first between Ukraine's leadership and top U.S. officials since Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met with President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance in the Oval Office on Feb. 28 in a heated exchange that saw Trump expel Zelensky from the White House.
Trump has since paused all U.S. military aid for Ukraine.
Zelensky is also in Saudi Arabia and has already met with Saudi leader Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, posting to X Monday that during their meeting he "specifically emphasized the issue of the release of prisoners and the return of our children, which could become a key step in building trust in diplomatic efforts," but made no mention of any talks in regard to the surrendering or returning of captured land.
Zelensky will not be speaking with Rubio and his accompanying team of national security adviser Mike Waltz and Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff.
Rubio added that he wasn't "going to set any conditions on what they have to or need to do," but the U.S. delegation would be seeking to learn what Kyiv is "willing to do in order to achieve peace" and end the war.
He has hinted that the United States could restart providing military assistance, depending on how the talks play out.
"It may be incompatible with what the Russians are willing to do," Rubio said about the concession of Ukrainian land to Russia, but "That's what we need to find out."
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