Rubio says

Washington — Secretary of State Marco Rubio said “we have a long ways to go” before commencing any potential peace talks with Russia aimed at ending the war in Ukraine, adding that “nothing has been finalized” regarding possible upcoming meetings between U.S. and Russian officials in Saudi Arabia.

“We stand ready to follow the president’s lead on this and begin to explore ways, if those opportunities present itself, to begin a process toward peace,” Rubio said on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” on Sunday.

Mr. Trump said last week that he had a “lengthy and highly productive phone call” with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and announced that he was directing Rubio and other members of his national security team to “immediately” begin negotiations aimed at ending Russia’s war with Ukraine. Mr. Trump also spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Rubio, speaking from Israel where he met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday, is heading to Saudi Arabia on the next leg of his current trip overseas. Rubio noted that his trip had been scheduled before Mr. Trump’s calls with Putin and Zelenskyy. He will be joined by national security adviser Mike Waltz and Steve Witkoff, Mr. Trump’s Middle East envoy. 

The secretary of state said Putin “expressed his interest in peace” during his call with Mr. Trump, who he said made clear “his desire to see an end of this conflict in a way that was enduring and that protected Ukrainian sovereignty.”

Asked whether he believes Putin is ready to negotiate and make concessions in order to end the fighting, Rubio said the call must be followed by action, and that “the next few weeks and days will determine whether it’s serious or not.”

“One phone call does not solve a war as complex as this one,” Rubio said. “But I can tell you that Donald Trump is the only leader in the world that could potentially begin that process.”

Rubio, who also met with Zelenskyy at the Munich Security Conference on Friday, said “we’ll see what happens over the next few days.” He said if there’s an opportunity “at any point in time” to “begin to create an opening for a broader conversation” on ending the war, he would “explore it.”

“A process towards peace is not a one-meeting thing. This war has been going on for a while,” Rubio said. “It’s difficult, it’s complicated, it’s been bloody, it’s been costly. So it will not be easy to end a conflict like this, and there are other parties at stake that have opinions on this as well.”

The comments come as retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg, the U.S. special envoy for Ukraine and Russia who would be involved with any potential peace talks, indicated that there would be parallel tracks of negotiations, with different parties handling talks with Russia and Ukraine separately. That prospect has unsettled Ukrainian and European officials who fear being frozen out of negotiations between the U.S. and Russia.

Asked about his role in the process, Rubio said “right now there is no process,” while adding that he expects there will follow up conversations to “figure out what a process” might look like.

“It’s a bit premature,” Rubio continued, saying there hasn’t been any “serious conversation.”

The secretary of state noted that if “real negotiations” begin, Ukraine will “have to be involved,” as will European countries, adding that “we’re just not there yet.”