"It's hard to say", Rubio replied when asked if he believes in achieving peace
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in an interview with Fox News that talks between the United States and Russia in Moscow have made some progress in finding a way to end the war in Ukraine, the New York Post reports.
He stressed that the goal is to find a solution that protects Ukraine's future and that both sides can accept. The US, he said, is looking for a compromise that will allow Kiev to rebuild its economy and function as a sovereign and prosperous state.
He avoided directly answering a question about how much he believes in the possibility of peace. "It's hard to say how confident we are about that, because in the case of Russia, the decision has to be made by one man - Putin. Not his advisers, but Putin," he said.
The talks in Moscow were led by President Putin on the Russian side and U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff on the American side, with discussions on a modified peace plan lasting about five hours and ending with no agreement.
Putin's adviser, Yuri Ushakov, said after the meeting that Moscow found some of the U.S. proposals acceptable, but rejected others and required further negotiations.