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U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio expressed cautious optimism on the prospects of a ceasefire deal between Ukraine and Russia.
Rubio spoke with reporters on Friday after G7 foreign ministerial in Canada, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.
Commenting on the negotiations of the U.S. President Special Representative Steve Witkoff in Moscow on Thursday, Rubio said: “We are in a better place today. I hope, I believe – we have reason to believe – than we were a week ago. But we still have a long way to go.”
According to the Secretary of State, the United States is trying to find out how much Russia agrees to the ceasefire.
“So, cautious optimism is about the best phraseology I can use at this moment based on what we know,” the top diplomat said.
When asked if Russia uses delay tactics, Rubio replied he could not offer a clear assessment to this end: “I think we’ll know sooner rather than later, and a lot of that will be based on the conversation Ambassador Witkoff had yesterday and other factors that are in play, but we’re not there yet,” he added.
Rubio stressed that it is important to “bifurcate” two issues: ” The ceasefire and the conditions for everybody to stop shooting at each other. What will it take to get everybody to stop shooting at each other and then moving to a negotiating table on settling the war with finality.”
As part of this second stage, the discussions could include the premise that “every country in the world has a right to security, has a right to defend itself, has a right to protect its territory”, Rubio said.
According to the Secretary of State, since the European Union has imposed serious sanctions against Russian entities and individuals, the EU “will have to be consulted and they’ll have to be engaged in this process”.
“Let’s not predetermine or start putting everything ahead of itself here. The process of what long-term security means for Ukraine, that will be something that Ukraine will obviously have to agree with and that will have to be worked through as part of that second phase,” he explained.
“We think it’s very difficult, very difficult to negotiate lasting peace and security in the midst of an all-out war,” he said.
According to Rubio, Trump has recalled twice over the last week that there are options for strengthening sanctions against Russia by the US, “but he doesn’t want to do that right now because he’s in the hopes of attracting people, both sides, to a process where we can negotiate peace”.
