Marco Rubio says there is a long way before starting negotiation with Russia
The US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, believes that there is “a long way to go” before starting any possible peace conversation with Russia aimed at ending the war in Ukraine. “We are ready to follow the president’s leadership (Donald Trump) in this issue and begin to explore ways to do so, if those opportunities are presented to initiate a process towards peace,” said Rubio in the Face the Nation program with Margaret Brennan that broadcast the CBS News chain.
Trump said last week that he had talked with the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, and announced that he had ordered that the negotiations aimed at ending the Ukraine War begin “immediately.” The US president also spoke with President Ukraine, Volodimir Zelenski.
Rubio, who met this weekend in Israel with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, has traveled to Saudi Arabia this Monday in the next stage of his current trip abroad. The Secretary of State said his trip had been scheduled before Trump calls with Putin and Zelenski and that the national security advisor Mike Waltz and Steve Witkoff, Trump’s envoy for the Middle East will accompany him. The Secretary of State said Putin “expressed his interest in La Paz” during his conversation with Trump.
When asked if he believes that Putin is ready to negotiate and make concessions to put an end to the fighting, Rubio said that the call must be followed by the action and that “the coming weeks and days will determine whether it is serious or not.” “A phone call does not solve a war as complex as this,” said Rubio. “But I can tell you that Donald Trump is the only leader in the world who could potentially begin that process.” “A process towards peace is not something that is achieved in a single meeting. This war has been running for a while, ”said Rubio, according to the US chain.
“It is difficult, it is complicated, it has been bloody, it has been expensive. Therefore, it will not be easy to end a conflict like this, and there are other parts that also have opinions about it. ”
Neither Washington nor Moscow have publicly announced when conversations will be held. However, the Axios portal, which cites two sources with direct knowledge of the process, affirms that the first meeting in Saudi Arabia will take place on Tuesday, the same date that CNN points out.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the special envoy for the Middle East Steve Witkoff and national security advisor Mike Waltz will travel to Saudi Arabia for conversations, confirmed several sources to this chain. (EFE)
