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Secretary of State Marco Rubio emphasized the importance of building trust and opening communication with Russia as he and other top Trump administration officials head to Saudi Arabia for talks on ending the war between Russia and Ukraine.
“One phone call does not make peace,” Rubio said on CBS’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday. “One phone call does not solve a war as complex as this one, but I can tell you that Donald Trump is the only leader in the world that could potentially begin that process.”
He later added: “I said yesterday that ‘peace’ is not a noun, it’s a verb. It’s an action. You have to take concrete steps toward it.”
News of the upcoming peace talks has rattled Ukrainian officials, with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy saying, “I do not know what it is,” in reference to the upcoming meetings. Fearing that its interests will be sold out, Ukraine has made it clear it will not accept a settlement imposed on it.
The upcoming talks also confirmed worries about the Trump administration excluding Europe from the process and potentially leaving the continent vulnerable to Russia. Last week, President Donald Trump even alluded to potential plans to meet directly with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Rubio did not disclose who he would be meeting with in Saudi Arabia. When asked about how he would advocate for Ukraine’s position, Rubio said those details are “premature.” He also said other European countries would have to be involved in more serious conversations down the road due to the sanctions put on Russia during the war.
“We have to understand right now there is no process,” Rubio said. “What we have right now is a call between Putin and President Trump in which both sides expressed an interest in ending this conflict … if it’s real negotiations, and we are not there yet, but if that were to happen, Ukraine will have to be involved because they were the ones that were invaded.”
When asked if the U.S. would consider lifting sanctions on Russia he said: “Well, we didn’t go into any details. What we discussed is basically the ability to begin communicating.”
Rubio also emphasized the importance of ensuring functional embassies in Moscow and in Washington to initiate peace between the two countries.
On whether the U.S. should trust Putin’s intentions to pursue peace, Rubio said: “I don’t think in geopolitics anyone should trust anyone.”
He added: “I think President Trump will know very quickly whether this is a real thing or whether this is an effort to buy time, but I don’t want to prejudge that.”
Trump repeatedly promised during the campaign to end the Russia-Ukraine on his first day in office, a timeline he subsequently pushed to 100 days. In talking about building a foundation for future progress, Rubio did not discuss Trump’s current timeline on Sunday.
“When he ran in his campaign and was elected as president,” Rubio added, “one of his promises was he will work to bring an end to this conflict in a way that’s sustainable and fair. Obviously, this is the first step in that process, but we have a long way to go.”
