Rubio on Donbas issue in peace talks: "This is still bridge we haven’t crossed"
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Russia’s territorial claims to Donetsk Oblast are a key issue that remains unresolved in talks on ending the war in Ukraine.
He said this while speaking before the Senate, CNN reported, Censor.NET informs.
The Donbas issue requires aligning positions in negotiations.
According to Rubio, they are currently trying to find common ground between Kyiv and Moscow, but the issue of the Donbas’ future status is one of the most difficult stages of the negotiations.
"I know there’s active work going to try to see if both sides’ views on that can’t be reconciled. It’s still a bridge we haven’t crossed. "It’s still a gap, but at least we’ve been able to narrow down the issue set to one central one, and it will probably be a very difficult one, but nonetheless, it’s one that work is going on," he said.
It is difficult for Ukraine to consider the idea of changing borders.
Besides, Rubio acknowledged the political difficulty for Ukraine of even considering the "idea of possibly changing borders."
"In Russia’s case, for two and a half years, they have been telling their citizens that they are winning this war by a huge margin. So people will wonder why we are giving up land if we are winning so confidently?" the secretary of state noted.
He described the pace of developments as fluid and fast. Rubio also said he is in contact with special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner "probably 10 times a day."
He also noted that the next round of talks on peace in Ukraine may include a U.S. presence, but Witkoff and Kushner, who were at the previous rounds, will not take part this time.
Rubio noted that the American side had agreed to security guarantees, but stressed that they would only take effect after the end of the war.
- As previously reported, according to media reports, U.S. security guarantees will depend on Ukraine’s agreement to withdraw troops from areas of the Donbas not occupied by Russia.
