A possible meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian dictator Vladimir Putin “will largely on whether we can make any progress on ending the war in Ukraine.”
This was stated by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Thursday, Ukrinform reports, referring to Reuters.
Rubio said he discussed such a meeting when he met Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday.
“I think when that meeting happens will largely depend on whether we can make any progress on ending the war in Ukraine,” Rubio told journalist Catherine Herridge in an interview broadcast on X.
Following the talks in Saudi Arabia, Trump – who spoke on the phone with Putin last week – said on Tuesday that he would probably meet with Putin before the end of the month. Rubio said: “I don’t know the timing of it.”
Rubio said Trump wants to know if Russia is serious about ending the war in Ukraine, triggered by Moscow’s invasion of its neighbour three years ago.
“The only way is to test them, to basically engage them and say, ‘Okay, are you serious about ending the war? And if so, what are your demands? Are your public demands and your private demands different?'” Rubio said.
“The only thing we agreed upon is that we’re going to talk about peace. What they offer, what they’re willing to concede to, what they’re willing to consider, will determine whether they’re serious about peace or not. We’re just not at that stage yet he said,” he said.
As Ukrinform reported, on Thursday, CNN, citing three sources familiar with U.S. and other western intelligence, reported that there is no evidence that Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin is prepared to seriously engage in peace talks with Ukraine that do not favor his maximalist aims in the country. Yet US President Trump continues to believe him.
Photo: Eric Lee/The New York Times
Source: Trump, Putin meeting depends on progress toward ending Ukraine war - Rubio
