United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio said today that he does not have "high expectations" for the talks between the Russian and Ukrainian delegations scheduled to take place in Istanbul.
He repeated US President Donald Trump's words spoken earlier today, according to which a solution can be found through direct negotiations between the US president and Russian President Vladimir Putin, who did not travel to Turkey for negotiations.
A delegation led by Putin's aide Vladimir Medinsky was sent to Turkey for negotiations.
"I'll be honest, I don't think we have high expectations for what's going to happen tomorrow," Rubio told reporters after a NATO meeting in Antalya, southern Turkey.
He admitted that the Russian delegation was not "at the level" they had expected.
"I hope I'm wrong. I hope they make tremendous progress tomorrow," he said. "But I honestly don't believe we're going to make progress until President Trump sits down with President Putin and figures out what the intentions are for the future," Rubio added.
He said he would meet with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybig in Istanbul and that a low-ranking US official would meet with Russian representatives.
Rubio expressed hope that host country Turkey would bring together Ukrainian and Russian delegations.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky previously said he was sending a Ukrainian delegation to talks with the Russians, led by Defense Minister Rustem Umerov. He also considered the level of the Russian delegation to be low, and had previously suggested that he meet directly with Putin, and traveled to Turkey in the hope that this would happen. However, Putin, who suggested direct Russia-Ukraine talks, did not come and it was only yesterday that it was announced who would be in the Russian delegation.
The talks are likely to begin tomorrow, although the possibility of them starting tonight has also been mentioned. A source close to the Russian delegation confirmed to TASS that the talks in Istanbul will begin tomorrow.
"The conflict would end immediately if Hamas handed over its weapons"
Rubio expressed concern about the situation in Gaza and said he was open to any new ideas for delivering aid to the Palestinian territory after criticism of the US and Israeli plan.
A new US-backed foundation announced yesterday that it wants to start distributing aid to Gaza this month, to which Israel has blocked the delivery of any food and humanitarian aid for two months.
Rubio told reporters they were concerned about the humanitarian situation in Gaza after reports of famine in the war-torn Palestinian territory.
"I hear criticism of that plan. We are open to alternatives, if someone has something better. We are for any possible aid that will be delivered without Hamas being able to plunder the population."
He said he spoke by phone today about the situation in Gaza with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who launched a campaign of attacks against the Palestinian Hamas in retaliation for Hamas' incursion and massacre in southern Israel on October 7, 2023.
"I think we would all like a lasting peace to this conflict that - just to say by the way - would immediately end if Hamas handed over its weapons," Rubio said.
"As long as Hamas exists and is there, there will be no peace," the US Secretary of State said.
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