U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Monday that Ukraine will have to make territorial concessions regarding the areas occupied by Russia since 2014 as part of any peace agreement to end the war. He made this statement during a flight to Saudi Arabia for negotiations with the Ukrainian delegation.
Rubio declined to outline a potential deal but made it clear that concessions from both Ukraine and Russia will be a central element of the diplomacy.
“I think both sides need to come to the understanding that there is no military solution to this situation. The Russians cannot conquer all of Ukraine, and it is clear that it will be very difficult for Ukraine to force the Russians back to where they were in 2014 in any reasonable time frame,” said the U.S. Secretary of State.
Rubio added that future negotiations with Moscow will need to determine what Russia is willing to concede.
“The most important thing we will leave here with is a strong sense that Ukraine is willing to do difficult things, just as the Russians will have to do difficult things to end this conflict—or at least pause it in some way,” Rubio told reporters.
Although the U.S. has stopped sharing certain intelligence with Ukraine, including satellite imagery, Rubio stated that they still provide Kyiv with information that allows it to continue defending against Russian attacks. He also remarked that there has never been a threat to deprive Ukraine of access to Elon Musk’s Starlink.
Rubio indicated that he and Ukrainian officials are likely to discuss the resumption of military aid during meetings on Tuesday. He noted that the U.S. position on this issue could change if he is convinced that Ukraine is serious about peace.
It should be noted that negotiations between representatives of Ukraine and the U.S. are scheduled to take place on March 11 in the Saudi city of Jeddah—marking the first such talks after a spat between the presidents of both countries at the White House.
