US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the US was waiting for Russia’s response to Washington’s 30-day ceasefire proposal.
“We all eagerly await the Russian response and urge them strongly to consider ending all hostilities,” Rubio told reporters on a refueling stop in Ireland.
“If they say no, then obviously we’ll have to examine everything and sort of figure out where we stand in the world and what their true intentions are,” he said. “I think it’ll be if they say no, it’ll tell us a lot about what their goals are and what their mindset is.”
Ukraine agreed to the US’ proposal following talks with Rubio and other US officials in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Rubio said that European allies would need to be involved in any eventual peace deal on Ukraine and highlighted the sanctions imposed on Russia since the launch of the invasion of Ukraine.
“I think that they have to be necessarily involved,” Rubio said and noted that Russia would seek removal of European measures imposed on it.
Rubio also said that a minerals deal with Ukraine would give the US a “vested economic interest” in Ukraine and while he didn’t frame that as a security guarantee, he said such an interest would need protecting.
“I wouldn’t couch it as a security guarantee, but certainly, if the United States has a vested economic interest that’s generating revenue for our people as well as for the people of Ukraine, we’d have a vested interest in protecting it,” Rubio
