U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio commented on reports about a possible meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump, Kremlin head Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping, saying that there "had been discussions about a meeting," but that he did not know "whether it had been finally agreed upon." He made the statement to reporters during his visit to Uzbekistan on Monday, October 19, UNN writes, citing Reuters.
Details
Answering a question about a possible meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump, Kremlin head Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping to discuss ending the four-year war in Ukraine, Rubio replied: "There had been discussions about a meeting. I don't know whether it had been finally agreed upon, but the president has made it clear. He would like the war in Ukraine and Russia to end."
Putin proposed a summit with Trump and Xi - WSJ19.10.26, 08:25
As the publication writes, Rubio said that Ukraine and Russia should focus on ending the war between them.
"We don't see anything good in this war," Rubio said. "We see a lot of drawbacks in it, including the very real risk of escalation and this thing spreading... to another country through an unsuccessful sabotage attack, through drones that come under the influence of electronic warfare and end up in a neighboring country," he noted.
The United States is trying to mediate a peace deal to end the war in Ukraine, and Trump has since reached an agreement with Russia on diesel fuel imports and lifted some sanctions against Moscow, which, he said, should keep the Kremlin at the negotiating table.
These steps were criticized by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. A new Russian airstrike on Kyiv last night killed a woman, as well as hitting a metro station and damaging a 25-story residential building.
Rubio arrived in Samarkand on Sunday evening to meet with senior officials from the C5+1 group, which brings together the United States and the Muslim-majority post-Soviet states of Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan.
Trump hosted the C5 leaders at the White House last November.
On intelligence
On Monday, Rubio also denied that the United States had suspended the exchange of some intelligence with Ukraine.
Speaking on an NBC program on Sunday, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, as the publication writes, said that the exchange of intelligence had been interrupted but later "unblocked." "We are very grateful for that," he said. "Now it is working."
But Rubio, speaking with reporters during his visit to Uzbekistan on Monday morning, said that intelligence sharing had not been interrupted.
"I don't know where he gets these things or why he says these things to the press. You should go back and ask him. There was no pause," Rubio told reporters.
"What he should focus on, and what we want to focus on, is ending this war. That is what he should focus on," Rubio said.