Rubio said the United States is optimistic about a peaceful settlement in Ukraine.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he was optimistic about the prospects for a peaceful settlement in Ukraine. He announced this on April 4 at a press conference following a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Brussels.

"I hope we will make progress towards peace. I remain optimistic that we can. It's going to be difficult, it's going to be difficult, but I'm optimistic," he said during a broadcast broadcast on C-SPAN.

Rubio stressed that the United States will seek a cease-fire first and that both sides of the conflict will need to make concessions in order to achieve lasting peace.

He added that it was important to establish a dialogue with Russia initially in order to make progress towards peace.

Conversational charm: why did Putin's special envoy Dmitriev fly to Washington

The head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund has launched a new round of consultations with the administration of Donald Trump.

Earlier in the day, US President Donald Trump said that Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky were ready to conclude a deal as part of a peaceful settlement of the conflict.

On April 3, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stressed that on the issue of the conflict in Ukraine, it is important not only to speak, but also to be heard, as is now being observed in relations with the US administration.