Rubio: The US hopes for resumption of talks between Ukraine and Russia, despite loss of “momentum”

The United States hopes for the resumption of negotiations between Ukraine and Russia and is ready to continue to mediate in them.

This was stated by the US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

"Weʼre ready, the president is ready, his team is ready to facilitate a diplomatic end to the war. Unfortunately, weʼve lost some momentum over the last few months for a variety of reasons: the Ukrainians are feeling more confident about their position on the battlefield; theyʼve gotten through the winter; the Russians are a little more optimistic because the price of oil has gone up," Rubio said in an interview with Fox News.

According to him, the United States is currently the only country in the world capable of ending Russiaʼs full-scale war against Ukraine.

"The president wants to see the war end, and if thereʼs anything he or we can do to help end it, weʼll do it," Rubio stressed.

The US Secretary of State added that Ukraine will need two decades to rebuild, and the damage to the Russian economy is "extraordinary".

Negotiations between Ukraine, Russia and the USA

The first direct trilateral negotiations between delegations from Ukraine, the Russian Federation, and the United States took place in Abu Dhabi on January 23-24. Their main topic was the possible terms for ending the war, but the negotiators did not achieve any concrete results.

The next round of negotiations took place in Abu Dhabi on February 4-5. The parties focused on the mechanisms of the ceasefire and how it would be monitored by the United States. But the delegations were unable to finally agree on the details without political decisions at the highest level.

At the same time, they agreed on the first exchange of prisoners between Ukraine and Russia in the last five months — 157 Ukrainians returned home.

After that, Ukraine, Russia, and the United States held peace talks in Geneva on February 17-18. Zelensky said at the time that the military had almost agreed on how to monitor the ceasefire, but there had been no progress on the issues of territories and the Zaporizhzhia NPP.

The latest round of trilateral talks between Kyiv, Washington, and Moscow took place in Geneva (Switzerland) on February 26. Particular attention was focused on the economic bloc and long-term support mechanisms for Ukraine.

In early April, Zelensky said that he had invited the American delegation to come to Kyiv for talks at the level of technical groups. This format is an alternative to the trilateral meeting with the participation of the Russian Federation, which cannot yet be held due to the war in the Middle East.

At the same time, Zelensky does not believe that the negotiations have reached a dead end and insists that the trilateral meetings must be continued.

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