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The United States will continue efforts to create conditions for ending Russia’s war in Ukraine, though a breakthrough may not be possible, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Sunday.
Speaking to CBS’s Face the Nation, Rubio warned that if no path to peace emerges, “people will continue to die by the thousands,” though Washington still hopes to avoid that outcome.
His remarks come as European leaders prepare to join Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Washington on Monday for talks with US President Donald Trump. The meeting follows Trump’s discussions with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday, where potential outlines of a settlement were floated.
”If peace is not going to be possible here and this is just going to continue on as a war, people will continue to die by the thousands … we may unfortunately wind up there, but we don’t want to wind up there,” he said.
”There are things that were discussed as part of this meeting that are potentials for breakthroughs, that are potential for progress,” said Rubio, adding that topics for discussion would include security guarantees for Ukraine.
Trump and Putin discussed proposals for Russia to relinquish tiny pockets of occupied Ukraine in exchange for Ukraine ceding a swathe of fortified land in the east and freezing the front lines elsewhere, Reuters reported citing sources as saying.
Rubio said both sides would need to make concessions if a peace deal were to be concluded.
With inputs from agencies