Top US diplomat Marco Rubio says he does not have high expectations for Ukraine-Russia peace talks due to be held in Turkey, and that Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin need to meet for progress to be made.
“I don’t think we’re going to have a breakthrough here until President Trump and President Putin interact directly on this topic,” he said after a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in southern Turkey.
Rubio, who spoke to reporters in Antalya, said he would travel to Istanbul for meetings on Friday with Türkiye’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and a Ukrainian delegation, but said he did not have high expectations for the talks.
“I don’t think we’re going to have a breakthrough here until the president (Trump) and President Putin interact directly on this topic,” Rubio said, echoing earlier comments from Trump.
The top US diplomat described the current state of the talks to end the war as a “logjam”, and said Trump was the only person who could break it.
Rubio said the level of the officials sent by Russia was not indicative of a breakthrough, but said Trump was willing to stick with talks as long as it takes to achieve peace.
When asked if any efforts were underway to bring Trump and Putin together, Rubio said Trump was going to make decisions once his Middle East trip ends.
“Probably we’ll wait until he finishes with his trip … We’ll wait to see what happens tomorrow, and then those decisions will be made about a timeline,” he said.
