Latest news with #RussiaTalks
CBS News
17-05-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
Rubio says U.S. will find out if Russia is "tapping us along" soon amid push for ceasefire in Ukraine
Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke on the phone Saturday with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, to get a readout on the latest talks, as the U.S. tries to determine whether Russia is "tapping us along" in efforts to end the war in Ukraine. "We talked about a variety of things," Rubio told "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan" in an interview airing Sunday. "I wanted to get his readout on his view of how the talks went yesterday. They were not a complete waste of time." The phone call between the countries' top diplomats occurred a day after Moscow and Kyiv held the first direct talks in three years. Russian President Vladimir Putin spurned Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's offer to meet face-to-face in Turkey after he proposed direct negotiations and instead sent a lower-level delegation. The talks in Istanbul Friday broke up after fewer than two hours without a ceasefire, although both sides agreed on exchanging 1,000 prisoners of war each. The United States — along with its European allies — have been pushing Russia and Ukraine for an end to the three-year war. President Trump, who has expressed frustration with the stalled talks and threatened to stiffen American sanctions unless progress is made toward a peace deal, said Saturday he will be speaking with Putin by phone Monday. That call will be followed by one with Zelenskyy, Mr. Trump said. "Are they tapping us along? Well, that's what we're trying to find out," Rubio told Brennan when asked if Russia and Ukraine are seeking to talk to "buy time." "We'll find out pretty soon." He added, "On the one hand, we're trying to achieve peace and end a very bloody, costly and destructive war. So, there's some element of patience that is required. On the other hand, we don't have time to waste. There are a lot of other things happening in the world that we also need to be paying attention to." The secretary of state said he believes the only way that these talks will move forward is if Mr. Trump and Putin meet in person. He said Mr. Trump has publicly offered to meet one-on-one. "The mechanics of setting that kind of meeting up would require a little bit of work, so I can't say that's being planned as we speak in terms of picking a site and a date," Rubio said. "But the president wants to do it. He wants to do it as soon as feasible." The Vatican has made a "very generous offer" to host any peace talks. Rubio, who is in Rome to attend the Mass for the inauguration of Pope Leo XIV Sunday, said the Vatican would be a place that "all parties would feel comfortable." Leo, who was elected as the first U.S.-born pope on May 8, took up Pope Francis' call for peace in Ukraine in his first Sunday noon blessing as pope. He appealed for all sides to do whatever possible to reach "an authentic, just and lasting peace."
Reuters
15-05-2025
- Politics
- Reuters
Rubio says Russia-Ukraine talks at 'logjam,' Trump-Putin meeting needed for breakthrough
ANTALYA, Turkey, May 15 (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Thursday the only way a breakthrough will happen in the efforts to end Russia's war in Ukraine would be through direct talks between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, after Moscow sent a second-tier team to talks in Turkey. Rubio, who spoke to reporters in Antalya, said he would travel to Istanbul for meetings on Friday with Turkey's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and a Ukrainian delegation, but said he did not have high expectations for the talks. "I don't think we're going to have a breakthrough here until the president (Trump) and President Putin interact directly on this topic," Rubio said, echoing earlier comments from Trump. The top U.S. diplomat described the current state of the talks to end the war as a "logjam," and said Trump was the only person who can break it. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy had traveled to Turkey after Putin proposed talks there, before the Russian president decided against traveling to the talks himself. Putin instead dispatched a second-tier team of aides and deputy ministers to Istanbul. Rubio said the level of the officials sent by Russia was not indicative of a breakthrough, but said Trump was willing to stick with talks as long as it takes to achieve peace. When asked if any efforts were under way to bring Trump and Putin together, Rubio said Trump was going to make decisions once his Middle East trip ends. "Probably we'll wait until he finishes with his trip ... We'll wait to see what happens tomorrow, and then those decisions will be made about a timeline," he said.
Russia Today
15-05-2025
- Politics
- Russia Today
UK sending security adviser to work with Zelensky
London is reportedly sending an adviser to Istanbul to give its recommendations to Ukraine's Vladimir Zelensky ahead of talks with Russia, the Guardian reported on Wednesday. On Sunday, Russian President Vladimir Putin offered to restart direct negotiations with Kiev to find a peaceful resolution to the Ukraine conflict. While Zelensky had previously ruled out talks with Moscow, he welcomed the proposal and agreed to personally travel to Türkiye to take part. Moscow has barred Western European leaders from participating in the negotiations, accusing them of a biased approach to the conflict and trying to prolong the fighting. Nevertheless, the UK is reportedly sending Prime Minister Keir Starmer's security adviser, Jonathan Powell, to meet with Zelensky ahead of the talks to provide 'background advice' on how he should handle the meeting. The Guardian reported that Powell's advice is expected to focus on making sure that Zelensky does not do 'anything that alienates Trump' and equip him to persuade the US president that Putin is the 'obstacle to peace.' The meeting is set to become the first direct talks between Russia and Ukraine since Kiev unilaterally aborted peace negotiations with Moscow in 2022 after being advised to do so by London. At the previous talks, shortly after the pre-approval of a draft treaty, former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson personally traveled to Kiev and persuaded Zelensky to abandon peace efforts and continue fighting, according to the head of the Ukrainian delegation David Arakhamia. Ahead of Thursday's discussions, Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov has stated that they will have to take into account the points that were already worked out by both sides in 2022, plus the 'real situation' on the ground that has developed since then. In his announcement of the talks, Putin stated that Russia is set on 'serious negotiations' with Ukraine and is seeking a 'long-term, sustainable peace' that would address the root causes of the conflict. He also suggested that Thursday's meeting could yield 'a new ceasefire' that could pave the way for a comprehensive peace settlement, depending on the decisions of 'the Ukrainian authorities and their supervisors.'
