US Secretary of State: Both Moscow and Kyiv will have to make concessions to end the war

(Patria) - US Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated today that the US is working on a "fair" and "sustainable" solution to end the three-year war of Russia against Ukraine, but that both Moscow and Kyiv will have to make concessions to achieve peace.

Rubio offered his assessment after he and other key US officials met today in the Saudi Arabian capital of Riyadh with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his deputies in the first attempt to end the war and improve strained Washington-Moscow relations.

"The goal is to end this conflict in a way that is fair, lasting, sustainable, and acceptable to all parties involved," Rubio told reporters, although no Ukrainian or European officials were at the table.

Rubio stated that he is convinced that Moscow is ready to engage in a "serious process" to end the war, which Russia began by invading its neighbor almost three years ago.

Tens of thousands of Russian and Ukrainian soldiers, along with Ukrainian civilians, have died in the fighting, in the worst conflict in Europe since World War II.



"The US and Russia have agreed to appoint appropriate high-level teams to begin working on a path to end the conflict in Ukraine as soon as possible," said State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce, who characterized the meeting as an important step forward towards peace.

Rubio stated that Ukraine and European nations will have to be involved in negotiations to end the war. He added that if the war stops, the US will have "exceptional opportunities... to be partners" with Russia on trade and other global issues.

"The key to unlocking that is the end of this conflict," Rubio asserted.

National Security Advisor Mike Waltz and Middle East Envoy Steve Witkoff also participated in the talks with the Russian side.

Waltz told reporters that negotiations to end the fighting will focus on territory and security guarantees for both Ukraine and Russia.

"This must be a lasting end to the war, not a temporary end, as we have seen in the past," Waltz said.

Russia now controls about a fifth of Ukraine's internationally recognized territory from 2014. Moscow controls the Crimean peninsula, which it unilaterally annexed in 2014.

When the invasion began, Moscow hoped for a swift takeover of all of Ukraine. But with strong Ukrainian resistance, the war has instead evolved into a fierce conflict and daily aerial bombardments on both sides, writes VOA.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has long called for the return of his country's borders before 2014, but US officials say this is unrealistic, as is Kyiv's long-sought goal of joining NATO, the main military alliance of the West, as part of a peace settlement agreed upon through negotiations.

Zelensky said he would not agree to a US-Russian solution to the war.

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Zelensky criticized the meeting in Riyadh: All parties must be at the negotiating table

(Patria) - The US and Russia agreed today in Riyadh to continue efforts to end the war in Ukraine, a US official said, while Kyiv and its European allies watched with concern from the sidelines, and Moscow set a major new demand

He postponed his trip to Saudi Arabia, which was scheduled for this week, citing the fact that his country's officials were not invited to today's US-Russian negotiations. The Ukrainian leader suggested he wanted to avoid his visit being associated with the talks and postponed the trip to March 10.

The engagement between the US and Russia has caused concern among European leaders who have in recent days emphasized the need for Ukraine to be involved in talks about its future, and for European nations to play a role in what they also see as a key development for their security.

French President Emmanuel Macron convened a group of European leaders for a session in Paris on Monday, where they discussed increasing defense spending and potential security guarantees for Ukraine.