Secretary of State Marco Rubio indicated Thursday that a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine is still on the horizon but noted the Eastern European nations are still very much at odds with “no military solution.”
“I think we know where Ukraine is and we know where Russia is right now and where [Russian President Vladimir] Putin is. They're still far apart," he told Fox News's Sean Hannity. "They're closer, but they're still far apart."
“And it's going to take a real breakthrough here very soon to make this possible, or I think the president is going to have to make a decision about how much more time we're going to dedicate to this,” he added.
During his time on the campaign trail, President Trump consistently vowed to end the conflict overnight. Just over 100 days into the president's second term, the administration has acknowledged that negotiations to end the war, now in its third year after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, would be more difficult than expected.
Rubio — who took on the role of national security adviser Thursday after Mike Waltz was ousted and nominated for United Nations ambassador — has defended Trump's moves on the matter. He, along with Waltz and Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, have participated in direct talks with Kremlin officials.
“There does come a point where the president has to decide how much more time at the highest levels of our government do you dedicate it, when maybe one of the two sides or both aren't really close enough, when we have got so many, I would argue, even more important issues going on around the world, not that a war in Ukraine is not important,” the secretary of state said Thursday.
U.S. officials signed a long-awaited minerals deal with Ukraine officials on Wednesday in an effort to secure safety guarantees as the conflict continues. The deal was supposed to be signed in February, but an Oval Office spat between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky derailed the original plan.
Rubio called the rare minerals deal a step forward that remains crucial to both parties.
“It's good for America, because we have invested a lot of money in this war,” he told Hannity, adding, “It's also good for Ukraine because it's going to help them be able to develop their economy and rebuild when this war ends."
The agreement will grant the U.S. access to oil, natural gas, rare earth minerals and other Ukrainian resources in exchange for aid.
Although the Trump administration touted the minerals deal as a significant win, some lawmakers argued the signed agreement was more for show.
“If you look at this Ukraine minerals deal, there’s no deal here,” Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.) told NewsNation in an interview Thursday evening.
“There’s no specific ‘We get this, we get that,'" he continued. "It’s really just sort of a framework for future conversations."
Rubio and Vice President Vance have also signaled that the U.S. could walk away from the negotiation table if a deal isn't reached soon. Trump has also questioned Putin and Zelensky's willingness to reach a deal in recent days.
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