Rubio Fires Back at Critics of Ukraine Peace Push
Rubio delivered the pointed remarks alongside Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban at a joint press conference in Budapest, defending the Trump administration's ongoing mediation efforts between Kyiv and Moscow.
"Usually when you're trying to end wars, the international community applauds you. This is one of the few wars I've ever seen where some people in the international community condemn you for trying to help end the war, but that's what we're trying to do," he said without explicitly naming any pro-war actors.
The US top diplomat asserted that Washington remains the only party to have successfully drawn both Russia and Ukraine to the negotiating table, while pushing back against criticism of those efforts. He was equally emphatic that the US had no intention of dictating terms, framing Washington's role as facilitation rather than imposition — seeking to "help" both warring parties exit what he described as an "incredibly damaging" conflict rather than "impose a deal on anybody."
So far this year, Russia, Ukraine, and the US have completed two rounds of trilateral negotiations in Abu Dhabi, supplemented by several additional multi-format discussions. Rubio confirmed that another round is expected to convene "again in Geneva later this week."
Both prior sessions were conducted entirely behind closed doors, with Moscow and Washington offering only brief characterizations of the proceedings — describing talks as "productive" and "constructive" — while withholding substantive details. The most recent round did produce one concrete result: a prisoner exchange involving 314 POWs between the two belligerents.
Despite the carefully managed optics, public statements from senior officials across all parties have made clear that the fundamental divide over territory remains unresolved. Moscow continues to insist that any durable ceasefire must include Ukrainian withdrawal from the remaining Donbas territories still under Kyiv's control — regions that voted to join Russia in 2022. Ukraine, for its part, has categorically ruled out any territorial concessions, leaving the two sides at an impasse that diplomats have yet to bridge.
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