Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday reiterated his call for an end to the conflict in Ukraine, saying it is a proxy war between the US and Russia.
Speaking in an interview with Fox News Channel's Sean Hannity, Rubio said that President Donald Trump views the war "as a protracted, stalemated conflict”.
“Frankly, this is a proxy war between the nuclear powers: the United States, which is helping Ukraine, and Russia, and it needs to come to an end," he said.
Rubio argued that aiding Ukraine "as much as they need for as long as it takes" is not a strategy and that no one has a concrete plan to resolve the war.
His remarks came a day after Trump said he received a letter from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during his first joint address to Congress.
The letter, he said, expressed Kiev's readiness to come to the negotiating table in pursuit of “lasting peace" and work out a critical minerals deal after a blowup last week at the White House.
A heated exchange occurred between Zelenskyy, Trump and Vice President JD Vance in the Oval Office on Februay 28. Zelenskyy expressed doubt that diplomacy could result in peace, but Trump and Vance criticized the Ukrainian leader for not being grateful for US support.
Meanwhile, Trump has temporarily cut off military funding to and intelligence sharing with Ukraine.
Earlier in the day, the US paused intelligence cooperation with Ukraine, CIA Director John Ratcliffe confirmed.
"Trump had a real question about whether President Zelenskyy was committed to the peace process, and he said, 'Let’s pause,’" Ratcliffe told Fox Business Network.
Ratcliffe expressed hope that the pause will soon be lifted.
Rubio recalled that Vice President Vance made the point that it's going to take diplomacy to get things like this solved, and President Zelenskyy made the decision to challenge the vice president and start questioning whether diplomacy is even possible, sabotaging and undermining the president's plan.
"And so that led to the dust-up. I'm glad to see that there's been a reconsideration of that position, because I truly believe that this is a conflict that we need to find a way to end, and it's going to require concessions from both sides, but we have to get them both to the table.
"The Ukrainians have to be there. Obviously it's their country. The Russians have to be at that table, and only President Trump can make that possible. That's been the goal that remains the goal, and that's what we're focused on now," he added.
