We will have to work to restore communication: US Secretary of State on meeting with Zelensky, helping Ukraine and restoring contacts with Russia
Kyiv • UNN
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced an upcoming meeting with President Zelenskyy and the need to restore communication with Russia. He also emphasized the importance of European security guarantees for Ukraine.
At a State Department briefing, Secretary of State Marco Rubio emphasized that the United States would be interested in long-term guarantees of Ukraine's independence, but that Europe should provide security guarantees. At the same time, Rubio praised the successful communication between Trump and Zelenskyy and announced the possibility of a meeting with the Ukrainian president.
Transmits UNN with reference to The United States Department of State.
Details
When asked by journalists about a possible meeting with President Zelensky and the procedure by which such conversations would take place, Secretary of State Marco Rubio provided the following answer:
Well, we - first of all, I mean, we have to work through all this. The vice president and I will meet with Zelenskyy, and at some point we will have to interact with our Russian colleagues.
In this context, Rubio added that representatives of the US government have not spoken to Russians for almost two and a half years, so “yesterday's call to President Vladimir Putin was the first call ... in two and a half years.
So we will have to work on restoring communication lines
He also explained what a meeting with Zelensky might look like from his point of view:
The President (Trump) spoke with Zelensky yesterday. He talked to him for about 45 minutes. And by the way, how - people say, look how much shorter it was. The difference is that with Putin, you need these translators, and it just takes forever. With Zelenskyy, he speaks a little bit of English, and they can talk and communicate more directly, and everything happens much faster.
Among other things, in an important context for Ukraine, Rubio noted that the United States “will be interested in Ukraine's long-term independence”: this should be anchored in current economic interests.
Hopefully, we will have news about that soon - the possibility of a partnership with Ukraine, a joint venture or something like that, for their mineral rights, all the natural resources that they have, and some of that money will come back to pay the US taxpayers the billions of dollars that were spent there, and some will be reinvested back in Ukraine...
Rubio mentioned the need for a European initiative:
Europe will have to provide - there will be strong security guarantees for Ukraine. It will have to be Europeans who are ready to step up and do this and-but there are many sensitive issues that need to be discussed: territorial claims, arms control, etc., language and cultural issues, all of which will have to be worked out.
Recall
Due to a malfunctioning windshield , the plane carrying Secretary Rubio returned to Washington. An alternative flight to Munich for a security conference is planned.
