U.S. and Russian teams met recently in Istanbul, following up on the February 18 meeting between U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Prime Minister Sergei Lavrov in Riyadh. There the two officials agreed to normalize their diplomatic missions, help negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine, and, if that goal were achieved, identify areas of common interest and concern.
In discussing the Riyadh meeting on Fox News, Secretary Rubio said the United States wanted to find out if Russia is interested in ending the war in Ukraine or continuing it: “We told them ... if you want to end the war, we can talk about what it would take to end it from [your] perspective. If you want to continue on the war, just tell us now.”
The Russians did agree to discuss what it would take to end the war, noted Secretary Rubio. “If what they insist on is unrealistic, then we know they’re not real about it. But,” he said, “we have to test that proposition.”
At a press conference, President Donald Trump said his “number one thing” is stopping the war in Ukraine.
“Probably a million and a half soldiers have been killed. ... A lot of cities that have been knocked to the ground. They’re demolition sites. Literally, demolition sites.”
President Trump said that while there are no guarantees, he believes there will be a deal to end the conflict because he won the U.S. presidential election. Without that, President Trump said, Russian President Vladimir Putin “had no intention of settling this war. I think he wanted the whole thing.”
“I believe he would have just continued to go through Ukraine, and over a period of time, a lot of people – a lot of people, would have been killed.”
President Trump said U.S. sanctions will remain on Russia “to see if we make a deal first. But I think we will.”
“I’ve had very good conversations with President Putin. I’ve had very good conversations with [Ukrainian] President Zelensky. And until four weeks ago, nobody had conversations with anybody. ... Nobody thought you could make peace. I think you can.”
“We’re going to do the best we can to make the best deal we can for both sides,” said President Trump. “But for Ukraine, we’re going to try very hard to make a good deal so that they can get as much back as possible.”
