This week will be crucial in determining whether Russia and Ukraine are ready to reach an agreement to end the war, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said today.
US President Donald Trump is exerting intense pressure to achieve an early cessation of hostilities in Ukraine and is showing increasing signs of impatience towards Kiev and Moscow.
Trump met with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky in Rome on Saturday, on the sidelines of the funeral of the head of the Roman Catholic Church, Pope Francis, and expressed doubts about Russian President Vladimir Putin's willingness to resolve the conflict in Ukraine.
"We're close (to an agreement), but not close enough. I think this Sunday will be crucial. We'll have to decide whether we want to continue to be involved in this endeavor or whether it's time to focus on other issues that are equally important, or even more important, in some cases," Rubio said in an interview with the American television network NBC.
According to him, there are "reasons for optimism, but also reasons for realism" regarding the chances of reaching an agreement, three years after the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Rubio reiterated that "there is no military solution to this war."
"The only solution to this war is a negotiated solution in which each side will have to make concessions," Rubio added.
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