Rubio optimistic after meeting with Ukrainian representatives, but admits “there is more work to do”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio expressed optimism about progress despite challenges to ending the more than three-year war
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that talks with Ukraine on an agreement to end the war between Russia and Ukraine were productive, but that “there is more work to be done.”
A Ukrainian delegation attended the talks, held in Florida headed by National Security Council Secretary Rustem Umerov, the new chief negotiator for Ukraine. Also attending the meeting were President Donald Trump's envoy, Steve Witkoff, and Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner. Witkoff is scheduled to visit Moscow for talks next week. “There is still a lot of work to be done, but today was a very productive and useful meeting in which I believe new progress was made,” Rubio told reporters after the four-hour meeting. The Secretary of State said that this is “a delicate and complicated issue” with “many factors at play,” as well as another party involved “that will have to be part of the equation,” referring to Russia. In this regard, he noted that the government's special envoy, Steve Witkoff, will travel to Moscow next week, and added that he has been “in contact to a greater or lesser extent with the Russian side, so we know quite a bit.” "He also expressed optimism about the possibility of reaching a peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine, "especially given the shared vision that it's not just about ending the war." "It's about securing Ukraine's future, a more prosperous future built on what we have achieved today," he noted. The talks were a continuation of a new set of negotiations that began with a new US peace plan. Critics claimed the plan initially favored Russia, which started the conflict with an invasion of Ukraine in 2022. At the meeting,The US delegation was headed by Rubio, Witkoff, and Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump's son-in-law and advisor. Ukraine was represented by Rustem Umerov, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council, accompanied by First Deputy Foreign Minister Sergiy Kyslytsya, and other Ukrainian diplomats and politicians. Umerov told reporters that the meeting covered "all issues that are important to Ukraine and Ukrainians," and said the United States was "very understanding."