‘No military solution’ to war in Ukraine, Marco Rubio says ahead of peace talks

There is “no military solution” to the war in Ukraine, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said ahead of high-level peace talks in Saudi Arabia.

A Ukrainian delegation, led by President Volodymyr Zelensky’s chief of staff, will meet with Mr Rubio and other senior White House figures in Jeddah to discuss an end to the three-year war with Russia.

On the plane ride there, Mr Rubio told reporters that he would be questioning the Ukrainians on their willingness to make concessions to halt the fighting, the Guardian reported.

“The most important thing that we have to leave here with is a strong sense that Ukraine is prepared to do difficult things, like the Russians are going to have to do difficult things, to end this conflict or at least pause it in some way, shape or form,” he said.

“I think both sides need to come to an understanding that there’s no military solution to this situation.”

The Russian armed forces “can’t conquer all of Ukraine”, Mr Rubio said.

“Obviously it’ll be very difficult for Ukraine in any reasonable time period to sort of force the Russians back all the way to where they were in 2014.”

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Kyiv will propose a Black Sea ceasefire, a halt to long-range missile attacks, and a prisoner exchange at the talks, according to two senior Ukrainian officials.

Speaking anonymously due to lack of authorisation to publicly discuss the Tuesday meeting, the officials also revealed Ukraine's readiness to sign a deal with the US granting access to its rare earth minerals, a key priority for President Donald Trump.

This meeting is crucial for Kyiv, which is working to mend relations after Mr Zelensky's February 28 Washington visit resulted in a heated Oval Office exchange with Mr Trump and Vice President JD Vance.

The fallout from theincident led to a pause in vital US military aid and intelligence sharing, previously instrumental in supporting Ukraine's war effort, as Washington now prioritises a peace agreement.

Both Mr Rubio and Mr Zelensky arrived in Saudi Arabia on Monday, but did not meet.

Mr Zelensky met with the kingdom's powerful crown prince Monday evening, with the president saying they "had a detailed discussion on the steps and conditions needed to end the war and secure a reliable and lasting peace”.

"Saudi Arabia provides a crucial platform for diplomacy, and we appreciate this," Mr Zelensky said online.

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Mr Rubio also met Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, thanking him for hosting the talks and also discussing Yemen's Houthi rebels, who are threatening to restart their attacks in the Red Sea.

Speaking to reporters, Mr Rubio acknowledged it would be hard for the Ukrainians to discuss concessions, considering their situation.

“It has been a costly and bloody war for the Ukrainians. They have suffered greatly and their people have suffered greatly.

“It’s hard in the aftermath of something like that to even talk about concessions, but that's the only way this is going to end and prevent more suffering.”

The rest of Europe remains skeptical about the talks as it has been sidelined by Washington.

The European Union last week agreed to boost the continent's defences and to free up hundreds of billions of euros for security in response to the Trump administration's shift in stance on Ukraine.