U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, commenting on whether there have been negotiations with the Europe regarding the easing of sanctions against Russia, noted that "we have not reached that stage yet," but emphasized the importance of European involvement in any resolution of the war. He said this to reporters on the way to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia, reports UNN.
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"We have not reached that stage yet. And, obviously, the Europeans have their own set of sanctions, and we cannot – they will have to make a decision about what they are willing to do. From the very beginning, I have emphasized that ultimately any final resolution of this war will require the involvement of the Europeans due to their sanctions that they have imposed, and we have been in very close contact, actually today here on this plane, with both the United Kingdom and France regarding our meetings tomorrow (March 11 - ed.) and potential subsequent meetings after the G7 meeting in Canada. And they have been – they have been very helpful, and, frankly, we have worked very closely with them in the lead-up to this meeting and, hopefully, in the coming days," Rubio said in response to a question about whether there were discussions with Europeans on what easing sanctions for Russia might look like, "if it really has to be."
The statements were made ahead of the meeting of the U.S. delegation with the Ukrainian delegation on March 11 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.