Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Sunday that he had no communication with Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, after the explosive meeting of the Friday white house that broke out in a cries match, but that he hoped that efforts to end the devastating war in the country could be “reset”.
“I haven’t had any contact with him since Friday,” said Rubio in an interview with the anchor of “this week” George Stephanopoulos of ABC News, adding that he had also not talked to his Ukrainian counterpart, the Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrii Sybiha, since then.
As he has always done in recent days, the secretary has defended the actions of President Donald Trump and Vice-President JD Vance while reprimanding Zelenskyy, saying that the comments of the Ukrainian leader in the oval office went to efforts to negotiate the end of the war in Ukraine, which was triggered by a full-scale invasion of more than three years ago.
“We have to bring [Russia] at the table. You are not going to bring them to the table if you call them names, if you are antagonistic. This is only the instinct of the president of years and years and years of implementation of agreements, “said Rubio.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio on “this week”.
ABC News
Stephanopoulos asked why the president then estimated that it was appropriate to call Zelenskyy a dictator, as he has done several times in recent weeks.
“Listen, we spent three years calling the names of Vladimir Putin. This is not the point now. The point where we are now is that we are trying to bring the man to a table,” replied Rubio.
As the president and the vice-president did during their meeting with Zelenskyy, the secretary also disputed the Ukrainian president by questioning the diplomatic approach of the administration-even if Rubio himself said that he was still not clear if the Kremlin really wants peace.
“This was understood by the Ukrainians. It was explained to them several times,” said Rubio. “Everyone knows the story here, the back and forth. We understand that. We all understand that. But the question is now, can we bring them to a table to negotiate? This is our goal. Do nothing to disturb this.”
But the secretary allegedly alleged that Zelenskyy “could not contain himself in this regard” and derailed the peace talks at the meeting by trying to “Ukraine-Splane on each question”.
“I hope all of this could be reset. I hope he realizes that we are really trying to help his country here before he undergoes thousands of additional victims,” said Rubio. “Why is it all good for anyone? And the argument that we will simply continue forever? It is absurd.”
Rubio also admitted that the diplomatic resolution of the conflict was not a certainty.
“We are trying to end a war. You cannot end a war unless the two sides come to the table, starting with the Russians,” said Rubio. “I do not promise you that it is possible. I am not telling you that it is likely at 90%. I say that it is 0% likely if we do not bring them to a negotiation table.”
During the interview, Rubio also pushed criticism from the republican senator Lisa Murkowski from Alaska, who wrote in an article on X that “I am sick in my stomach because the administration seems to move away from our allies and embrace Putin, a threat to the American democracy and values of the world”.
“What did we do to appease the Russians? The only thing we have done is to say:” Are you ready to talk about peace? “” Said Rubio.
Stephanopoulos raised the controversial decision of the administration to join Russia to the United Nations Security Council this week by proposing a resolution on the war which does not explicitly blame the Russian aggression encouraging war, which was finally adopted by the Council, while refusing to support a European resolution which condemned Moscow.
“He essentially said that it was a horrible war. It is time to end,” said the secretary about the United States resolution.
“The earliest everyone will grow up here and understands that it is a bad war that is heading in the wrong direction, with death and destruction and all kinds of danger that could run away in a broader conflict – the earlier people will grow and realize that – the more we are going to make progress,” he continued.
While he has increased his efforts to end the war in Ukraine, the Trump administration has been confronted with criticisms for having publicly affirmed that kyiv will finally have to yield the territory to Moscow and throw cold water on Ukraine’s NATO ambitions while saying nothing about the concessions that Russia will need to make.
Stephanopoulos asked Rubio what the Kremlin should give in to end the war.
“Well, why would I say that during a news program? This is what it is,” said Rubio. “It’s not a messaging exercise, okay? It is” going to a table? “And then there is a difficult job to do.”
