Marco Rubio: Donald Trump 'Doesn't Like Wars' And Wants Quick End To Russia-Ukraine War

Forbes Breaking News

In a press briefing on Thursday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio answered a question about a potential end to the conflict in Ukraine.

Transcript

00:00Secretary, you mentioned wanting to see a roadmap for how this conflict can conclude.

00:04What concrete ideas have you presented, and how did Russia respond in this meeting?

00:08Well, again, these things are best negotiated.

00:11I don't want to, in private, and that's how these things generally work.

00:15There were some ideas exchanged today, some viewpoints that they expressed to us

00:18that I'll take back to the president for his consideration,

00:22and hopefully it will lead to something.

00:23I don't want to overpromise.

00:24I mean, again, as I said, this is a conflict that's been going on now for over three years,

00:29and as has already been pointed out by one of the questions here,

00:33we've seen an acceleration of attacks.

00:35I think it's probably the largest drone attack in a city close to the Polish border, actually,

00:41so it's a pretty deep strike.

00:43And, again, I mean, every time you see this in the headlines and people die,

00:48it reminds you of why the president wants this war to end, as he has said from the beginning.

00:52His number one interest here is to stop people from dying

00:55and the destruction that's ongoing every single day.

00:57They're going to be having a conference, maybe it starts today, if I'm not mistaken,

01:01about reconstruction and the rebuilding of Ukraine.

01:05Every time one of these strikes is launched, the price of reconstruction goes up, right?

01:10There's also the destruction of the country's capabilities,

01:14the country's economic capabilities that has to be added to this.

01:17But, obviously, the loss of life is something of great interest to the president.

01:22And it's important to note that since January of this year is an example,

01:26just to give you on the Russian side, they've lost 100,000 soldiers, dead.

01:30Not India, I'm talking about dead.

01:31And on the Ukrainian side, the numbers are less, but still very significant.

01:35And so that's – the president doesn't like wars.

01:38He thinks wars are a waste of money and a waste of lives, and he wants them to end.

01:42And he's going to do everything he can within his power to end this war

01:44and any other war he has a chance to end, as you've seen in the past.

01:48And so we're going to continue to work at it.

01:49We understand that these things take time and patience,

01:52but obviously we're also frustrated that more progress has not been made.

01:56And hopefully, based on today and in the days to come,

02:00we'll have more clarity about what exactly the Russian position

02:03and priorities are in this regard and can begin to make some progress.

02:06But it's, you know, it's been difficult, as you've seen.

02:10The Chinese have been supporting Russia.

02:12Will you meet with your Chinese counterpart here this week to speak to him about that?

02:15Yeah, I think we're working on that.

02:16Maybe we'll meet, and obviously we'll talk about it.

02:19You know, I think, you know, the Chinese clearly have been supportive of the Russian effort,

02:23and I think that generally they've been willing to help them as much as they can without getting caught.

02:28But people in Europe and other parts of the world have noticed.

02:31But in the end, this piece, if it's possible and doable, will happen between Ukraine and Russia,

02:40and we're willing to do whatever we can to help bring it to an end.

02:47Can I ask an ASEAN question?

02:48A what?

02:49An ASEAN question.

02:50Yeah, of course. That's why we're here, right?

02:51Can I ask you one more quick question on Russia?

02:52Just these ideas that were put on the table today,

02:55would you characterize them as new ideas from the Russian side

02:57that the Trump administration had not heard before?

03:00Yes. Well, I think maybe, yes.

03:03I think it's a new and a different approach.

03:06Again, I wouldn't characterize it as something that guarantees a piece,

03:10but it's a concept that, you know, we'll take back to the president today

03:15and here as soon as I finish with you.

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