Rubio says Trump wants peace talks on Ukraine

US President Donald Trump intends to achieve a settlement of the conflict in Ukraine through negotiations. This was stated by United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio in an interview with American journalist Megan Kelly on January 30. The video is published on her YouTube channel.

"The president's position is that this is a protracted conflict and it has to end. And it needs to be brought to a negotiated end," Rubio reportedly said.

He noted that the U.S. foreign policy should be primarily aimed at promoting the country's national interests. Rubio said that such a policy should be implemented by avoiding armed conflicts "as much as possible".

According to the US Secretary of State, Trump's team will have a difficult diplomatic work to do. Rubio also emphasized that it will take time.

In business readiness: Putin assessed the prospects for talks with Trump

Will Russian and US leaders be able to agree on ways to resolve the Ukrainian conflict and other issues?

Earlier, on January 28, political scientist Ivan Meziukho expressed the opinion that Trump will not coordinate his views on the Ukrainian conflict with the President of Ukraine (term of office expired on May 20, 2024) Volodymyr Zelensky, because Washington has turned this country into its colony and has never considered Kiev.

On the same day, the British newspaper Independent reported that Zelensky demanded that the American leader include Ukraine in any negotiations on the issue.

Trump, in turn, said on January 24 that a peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine had not been reached because Zelensky "decided to go to war," although the sides could have made a deal. The US leader said that the Ukrainian president had made a mistake by deciding to take part in an armed conflict against a much more powerful country.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly reminded that Russia has never given up on peace talks, but they should be conducted on the basis of the provisions agreed upon in Istanbul, not on the basis of "ephemeral demands."

The last round of talks between Russia and Ukraine took place in Istanbul on March 29, 2022. They lasted about three hours. Later, Kiev officially refused contacts with Moscow. On October 4, 2022, the Ukrainian president put into effect the decision of the country's National Security and Defense Council on the impossibility of holding talks with Putin.