Marco Rubio: Ukraine should be prepared for concessions and “difficult decisions” as part of a peace agreement with Russia

Ukraine will have to make territorial concessions within the framework of a particular agreement on the end of the war with Russia, writes The New York Times with reference to the statement of US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Rubio made a speech before going to Jidd, where negotiations of Ukrainian and American delegations will be held on March 11. As previously reported , he, among other things, stated that this meeting “will have key importance” for the resumption of American military assistance to Kiev. According to him, if the United States is satisfied with negotiations, help will resume.

According to the head of the State Department, the main result of negotiations for the United States will be "a firm feeling that Ukraine is ready to make difficult decisions." Rubio noted that Russia will have to make “difficult decisions” in order to stop the war or at least “suspend” it “in one form or another”. According to NYT, the diplomat refused to offer a potential peace plan, but made it clear that the concessions of both parties would be crucial for diplomacy.

“I think that both parties should come to the understanding that a military decision of this situation does not exist. Russians cannot win the whole of Ukraine, and it is obvious that it will be very difficult for Ukraine for any reasonable period of time to force the Russians to return to the position of 2014, ”the US Secretary of State added.

In the course of future negotiations with Moscow, Rubio noted, Washington also has to determine what concessions Russia is ready to go. “We do not know how far they are [with Ukraine] are actually far from each other,” he said.

In addition, Rubio called Ukraine a “promising” proposal for a partial ceasefire, which was previously reported by Financial Times. “I am not saying that this alone is enough, but this is the concession that needs to be seen to complete the conflict,” said the Secretary of State.

• The delegations of the United States and Ukraine will meet in Gidd on March 11. According to Financial Times, representatives of Kyiv at the meeting will offer a partial ceasefire plan. Representatives of Washington, reported Reuters, during the negotiations are going to determine whether Kyiv is ready to territorial concessions in order to stop the war.
• US President Donald Trump ordered to suspend military assistance to Kyiv shortly after a meeting in the White House with the President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky, which ended with a quarrel.
• Since the beginning of March, the Trump administration stopped the supply of weapons and the exchange of intelligence with Ukraine, in order, according to the media, to force Kyiv to sit down at the negotiating table. Against this background, Russia said that it won several settlements of the Kursk region, which were previously under the control of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
• NBC News reported that Trump, in exchange for the resumption of military assistance to Kiev, would like to see Zelensky's readiness to make concessions, including Russia's transmission of the occupied territories of Ukraine.