Secretary of State Marco Rubio underscored that both Russia and Ukraine will have to “get something” out of a peace deal to end the war.
Rubio didn’t specify what concession Ukraine will have to make in order to get Russia to end its brutality, but hinted that it will likely be a tough ask.
However, Russian strongman Vladimir Putin proposed taking all of the Ukrainian region of Donetsk — even the parts Ukraine currently controls — in exchange for a deal, The Post previously reported. Ukraine’s leader has flatly rejected that idea.
“What it’s going to take to stop the fighting, if we’re being honest and serious here, is both sides are going to have to give, and both sides should expect to get something from this,” Rubio told CBS News’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday.
“It’s very difficult because Ukraine obviously feels, you know, harmed, and rightfully so, because they were invaded,” he added. “And the Russian side, because they feel like they got momentum in the battlefield.”
Rubio didn’t delve into specifics about the territorial concessions Ukraine will have to make, which is expected to be the topic of discussion between President Volodymyr Zelensky and President Trump during their White House meeting on Monday.
On Sunday, Trump reposted a user’s remark on Truth Social that Ukraine will have to make territorial concessions to Russia in order to end the war.
At Friday’s summit in Alaska, Putin had demanded that Ukraine surrender the remaining quarter of Donetsk, a minerals-rich, Russian-speaking region, as part of a deal to end the war.
In exchange, Putin expressed a willingness to freeze up fighting in the front lines of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, where Russia has struggled to make significant progress, Axios reported.
Critics fear that, because of the heavy Ukrainian fortifications in Donetsk, if they were to surrender that to the Russians, the Kremlin could cut much further into Ukraine in the future.
Former National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, who served under the Biden administration, cautioned that ceding land to Russia “diplomatically” could “just set Russia up to attack Ukraine in the future.”
“We definitely should not take Russia’s word for it when they say, ‘Oh, we won’t do this again, even if they put it in legislation in Russia,’” Sullivan told “Fox News Sunday.”
Ahead of Trump’s meeting with Putin in Alaska on Friday, the US president threatened to slap crippling secondary sanctions and tariffs on countries that import Russian oil.
Rubio stressed that Trump is being cautious about pulling the trigger on those sanctions out of fear that it could end peace talks for an extended period of time.
“If this morning the president woke up and said I’m putting these terrible, strong sanctions on Russia, that’s fine. [It] may make people feel good for a couple hours,” Rubio told Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures.”
“But here’s what you’re basically saying. You’re saying talks are over. For the foreseeable future, for the next year or year-and-a-half, there’s no more talks, because there’s no one else in the world that can talk to him [Putin].”
The secretary of state also indicated that while Trump pivoted away from a ceasefire push to the pursuit of a full-fledged peace deal, a ceasefire is not out of the question.
“No, it’s not off the table,” Rubio told NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday. “Now, whether there needs to be a ceasefire on the way there, well, we’ve advocated for that. Unfortunately, the Russians as of now, have not agreed to that.”
Rubio also appeared to downplay the possibility of Russia getting all of the Ukrainian territory it has conquered as part of a deal — roughly 20% of Ukraine.
“If there’s going to be a peace deal, it’s not going to look like that,” Rubio said, referring to a graphic about the Ukrainian territory Russia occupies. “But he [Putin] certainly is making demands.”
“He’s certainly asking for things that the Ukrainians and others are not willing to be supportive of and that we’re not going to push them to give. And the Ukrainians are asking for things that the Russians are not going to give up on.”
