The United States (U.S.) Secretary of State Marco Rubio said yesterday that a lot needs to happen in the coming weeks in order to reach a ceasefire in Ukraine and that negotiations will not last forever.
“We are closer to peace simply because we are talking to both sides, but we are not closer to peace because we have an agreement to end this conflict – but we will know that soon,” Rubio said at a press conference in Brussels.
When asked about the timeframe in which he expects results from the negotiations, he said he thinks it’s a matter of a few weeks.
“A lot has to happen here in the next few weeks for this to be real,” Rubio emphasized.
He stated that fighting must stop if all sides are interested in peace because that, he said, creates the conditions to end the war.
“Those have to be reasonable conditions, right? Not crazy things. If you’re interested in peace, that’s what you do. If you’re not interested in peace, then you kind of stall and come up with excuses,” Rubio said.
He reminded that the Russian side has not agreed to this, nor did it want a partial ceasefire.
“If we wake up tomorrow and see the Russians launching a major offensive, then I think that’s a pretty clear sign that they’re not interested in peace. That hasn’t happened yet. Let’s hope it doesn’t happen. We want to know whether they want to establish peace or not, and if they do, then there’s a way, and we are ready to help,” Rubio stressed.
He added that it’s also necessary to know if they are not interested in peace so that “policies can be adjusted.”
He concluded that the U.S. is not interested in “negotiations about negotiations,” adding that this must not go on forever.
