Negotiations deadlocked: US recognizes complexity of Donbas issue
Фото: Reuters
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that active work is underway to resolve the territorial issue of Donetsk in US-brokered talks to end Russia’s war in Ukraine, calling the disagreement a key issue that is “very difficult” to resolve.
Reuters reports this.
Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin has repeatedly stated that Russia will seize all of Ukraine’s Donbas, 90% of which is controlled by Moscow’s forces, by force if Kyiv does not give it up as part of a peace agreement.
“Kyiv has stated that it will not give Russia territory that Moscow was unable to gain on the battlefield. Polls show a low level of interest among Ukrainians in territorial concessions,” the material states.
“It’s still a bridge that we need to cross. It’s still a gap, but at least we’ve narrowed it down to one central issue, and that’s probably going to be very difficult,” Rubio said at a hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
A US diplomat said the US may be present at further talks on Ukraine, but President Donald Trump’s top envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, who participated in the previous round of talks last weekend in Abu Dhabi, will not participate.
Last weekend’s talks, which included a rare face-to-face meeting between Russian and Ukrainian officials, ended without an agreement, but Moscow and Kyiv said they were open to further dialogue. Further talks are expected to take place in Abu Dhabi next Sunday, a U.S. official who spoke to reporters at the time said.
The publication notes that Kyiv is under constant pressure from the Trump administration, which is pushing it to make concessions and reach an agreement to end the deadliest and most destructive conflict in Europe since World War II, caused by Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Rubio was also asked whether security guarantees for Ukraine had been agreed upon between the United States and Ukraine.
“I think you could argue that they are agreed upon on our side. There is obviously a Russian dynamic at work here. And, of course, any security guarantees will come into effect after the conflict is over,” Rubio said.
On Tuesday, the Financial Times reported that Washington has told Ukraine that it must sign a peace deal with Russia to receive US security guarantees.
As reported, Washington is considering an offer to Ukraine to give up Donbas in exchange for a $800 billion financing plan for the country’s reconstruction.
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