Secretary Of State Marco Rubio Reveals US Decision On Continuing Russia-Ukraine Peace Talks Coming In 'A Matter Of Days'

Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke with reporters on Friday about the prospects of ending the war between Russia and Ukraine.

Transcript

00:00I think it's important to remind everybody that the Ukraine war is a terrible thing, but it's not our war.

00:05We didn't start it. The United States has been helping Ukraine for over the last three years, and we want it to end.

00:11But it's not our war. I want everyone to understand that.

00:14And the reason why I make that point is the president has spent 87 days at the highest level of his government

00:19repeatedly taking efforts to bring this war to an end.

00:22We are now reaching a point where we need to decide and determine whether this is even possible or not,

00:28which is why we're engaging both sides.

00:31As you know, Ambassador Whitcoff has had not one, not two, but three meetings with Vladimir Putin

00:35to determine the Russian perspective on this and understand what it would take for them to end it.

00:41We, General Kellogg, myself and others, have had repeated engagements with the Ukrainians.

00:46So we came here yesterday to sort of begin to talk about more specific outlines of what it might take to end the war,

00:53to try to figure out very soon, and I'm talking about a matter of days, not a matter of weeks,

00:58whether or not this is the war that can be ended.

01:00If it can, we're prepared to do whatever we can to facilitate that and make sure that it happens,

01:06that it ends in a durable and just way.

01:09If it's not possible, if we're so far apart that this is not going to happen,

01:13then I think the president's probably at a point where he's going to say, well, we're done.

01:16You know, we'll do what we can on the margins.

01:19We'll be ready to help whenever you're ready to have peace.

01:22But we're not going to continue with this endeavor for weeks and months on end.

01:27So we need to determine very quickly now, and I'm talking about a matter of days,

01:30whether or not this is doable over the next few weeks.

01:34If it is, we're in.

01:36If it's hot, then we have other priorities to focus on as well.

01:40If it's hot, then we'll be right back.