U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said that the Trump administration is poised to help end the war in Ukraine.
However, he acknowledged that there is no quick path to a deal, saying diplomacy will require sustained effort and new ideas.
This comes after Rubio held talks with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov in the Philippine capital on the sidelines of an annual gathering by Foreign Ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
Rubio said of his meeting with his Russian counterpart, “We had a good conversation, a frank conversation,” adding that he would not go into specifics about what was discussed.
“The United States, the President’s been clear that … we are prepared to play a constructive role in bringing about an end to a senseless war, and we’re ready to do that.”
Marco Rubio
He alluded to how U.S.-mediated talks have stalled. He called them “unsuccessful or at least unfruitful” in the past but insisted that President Donald Trump was committed to the work “if conditions and factors have changed to make that possible.”
“That’s been the challenge — an end that both sides can accept. We’ve tried and we’ll continue to try to see if we can, you know, find a middle ground that brings this about. And we’re prepared to play that role if the opportunity presents itself.”
Marco Rubio
However, Rubio said “we’ll have to find new suggestions and new ideas” that are acceptable to both sides. He stated that there has been no change to Washington’s military support for Ukraine, with weapons being purchased by NATO allies and transferred to the war-ravaged country.
After meeting with Rubio, Lavrov largely ignored questions from reporters. The Russian Foreign Ministry in Moscow said that he emphasized to Rubio “the unacceptability of further arming” Ukraine and accused European countries of pursuing Russia’s “strategic defeat.”
The Russian ministry said that Lavrov reiterated Russia’s readiness for “a political and diplomatic resolution of the conflict” and commitment to agreements reached at a summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S President Donald Trump in Alaska last year.
U.S. efforts to broker an end to the Russia-Ukraine war have been overshadowed by the outbreak of the Iran war earlier this year. Renewed strikes by Washington and Tehran have been intensifying after an interim ceasefire deal collapsed.
Rubio Warns Of Outsized Military Response To Iran’s Strikes
Moreover, Rubio warned that Trump is prepared to direct an outsized military response to Iranian aggression as the two sides continue to exchange fire nearly five months into the conflict. “The price will continue to get higher every single night until they come to their senses,” Rubio said.
He insisted that Tehran is “begging” for talks but Trump does not see the use in responding because “Iran is clearly not ready to make a deal, at least not one they’re willing to live by.”
Trump has warned Iran that the U.S. will destroy one Iranian bridge or power plant each time Iran shoots at a ship in the Strait of Hormuz. Iranian Foreign Minister, Abbas Araghchi responded by saying that the country’s defense doctrine was an “eye for an eye.”
In a seeming response to Araghchi’s comment, Rubio said, “The President’s policy is a head for an eye,” adding, “They will pay a very heavy price for the things they’re doing.”
These threats follow a brief period of optimism last month that the war could soon reach a resolution after the U.S. and Iran signed a memorandum of understanding that initiated a halt in fighting and renewed peace deal talks. However, both Tehran and Washington have alleged that the other side violated the terms of this ceasefire deal and launched attacks in response.
A rising death toll among U.S. troops and Iranian citizens has increased pressure on the Trump administration to wind down these military operations, with several Republican lawmakers expressing dissatisfaction with the way the President has handled this conflict. “There’s got to be an off-ramp, that’s all there is to it,” Senator Jim Justice told reporters on Wednesday. On Wednesday, Trump attended a dignified transfer of four American service members who were recently killed in Jordan and Iraq amid the war. Rubio told reporters on Wednesday that Tehran is “probably not ready” to make a deal but that its leaders “will be soon.”
Rubio also admitted that there’s “always going to be a concern that America is so focused on one place that it can’t focus on another,” but he noted that the U.S. remains “engaged in Asia every single day,” citing strong partnerships and economic ties across the region.
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