Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the United States will pause negotiations in the peace deal between Ukraine and Russia unless more progress is made.
“I think it’s important to remind everybody that the Ukraine war is a terrible thing, but it’s not our war. We didn’t start it. The United States has been helping Ukraine for over the last three years, and we want it to end. But it’s not our war. I wanted everyone to understand that,” Rubio told reporters in France.
Discussing the peace negotiations, Rubio said that countries involved “need to determine very quickly now – and I’m talking about a matter of days – whether or not this is doable in the – over the next few weeks. If it is, we’re in. If it’s not, then we’ll have to – we have other priorities to focus on as well.”
Rubio reiterated that “we need to figure out here now, within a matter of days, whether this is doable in the short term. Because if it’s not, then I think we’re just going to move on, from our perspective.”
“The President feels very strongly about that. He has dedicated a lot of time and energy to this, and there are a lot of things going on in the world right now that we need to be focused on,” Rubio stated, noting that while the negotiations are important, “there are a lot of other really important things going on that deserve just as much if not more attention.”
Addressing another reporter, Rubio again stated that the U.S. will not “continue to fly all over the world and do meeting after meeting after meeting if no progress is being made.”
“So if they’re serious about peace – either side, or both – we want to help. If it’s not going to happen, then we’re just going to move on. We’re going to move on to other topics that are equally if not more important in some ways to the United States,” he said.
