Ukraine should cede territory in any peace deal, - Rubio
Ukraine will have to make concessions regarding the land that Russia has seized since 2014 as part of any agreement to end the war.
This was stated by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Censor.NET reports citing The New York Times.
"The most important thing that we have to leave here with is a strong sense that Ukraine is prepared to do difficult things, like the Russians are going to have to do difficult things to end this conflict or at least pause it in some way, shape or form," Rubio commented on the upcoming talks with the Ukrainian delegation in Saudi Arabia.
He declined to offer the contours of a potential deal, but made it clear that concessions on both sides would be central to diplomacy.
"I think both sides need to come to an understanding that there’s no military solution to this situation. The Russians can’t conquer all of Ukraine, and obviously it’ll be very difficult for Ukraine in any reasonable time period to sort of force the Russians back all the way to where they were in 2014," the US Secretary of State believes.
Rubio added that in future negotiations with Moscow, it is necessary to determine what exactly Russia is willing to give up.
"We don’t know how far apart they truly are," he said.
Also, despite the fact that the United States has stopped intelligence sharing and military support for Ukraine, Rubio said it will never provide military assistance to Russia.
As a reminder, on 8 March, Volodymyr Zelenskyy revealed the composition of the Ukrainian delegation that will travel to Saudi Arabia next week for talks with the United States. According to him, Ukraine will be represented at the talks with the United States scheduled for Tuesday, 11 March, in Saudi Arabia by the head of the Presidential Office, Andrii Yermak, Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, Defence Minister Rustem Umierov, and Deputy Head of the Presidential Office Pavlo Palisa.
It was also reported that the Ukrainian delegation would propose the establishment of a ceasefire at sea, a ban on long-range strikes against Russia, and insist on the release of prisoners during talks with the United States in Saudi Arabia.
