Antalya (TDI): The US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, said that in Russia-Ukraine peace talks, breakthrough is possible only with direct talks between President Trump and President Putin.
The remarks came after Kremlin stated that the Russian President will not join in Istanbul for direct talks with the Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Instead, a second-tier team was sent for the talks.
While talking to reporters in Antalya, the US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, announced that he would travel to Istanbul for meetings with Hakan Fidan, Türkiye’s Foreign Minister, and a Ukrainian delegation.
He did not express high expectations from the talks. “I don’t think we’re going to have a breakthrough here until the president (Trump) and President Putin interact directly on this topic,” Rubio said.
He also described the ongoing state of peace talks as a “logjam,” which can only be broken by President Trump.
Read More: Zelenskyy Insists on Face-to-Face Talks With Putin
Before President Putin decided against participating in talks directly, President Zelenskyy had said that he would only join in for the talks if the Russian President is ready to have a face-to-face meeting with him.
Rubio also said that the second-tier delegation sent by Putin is not an indication of a breakthrough, but Trump is willing to stick with peace talks as long as it takes to reach to an agreement.
The remarks were in stark contrast with the statement given by Rubio earlier that the US President would “move on” if no progress was made in the next few weeks.
When asked if any such meeting was scheduled between President Trump and President Putin, Rubio said that the US President would decide after his trip to the Middle East comes to an end.
Read More: European Leaders Arrive in Ukraine to Show Support After Putin’s Parade
Furthermore, Zelenskyy also commented on the Russian delegation which had arrived in Istanbul for talks, calling it decorative.
“The level of the Russian [delegation] is not known officially to me but from what we see, it looks more like it’s on a decorative level. We need to understand what kind of level the Russian delegation is, and what mandate they have and whether they can make any decisions,” he said.
The Russian delegation arrived in Istanbul after President Putin agreed to have direct talks with Ukrainian President, without any preconditions, as both the US and European leaders pushed for a 30-day full and unconditional ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine.
Javaria Khalid is a writer and researcher, who specializes in Pakistan's Foreign Policy Analysis, transatlantic geopolitics, and Pakistan’s relations with the European countries and the EU. She can be reached at javariakhalid011@outlook.com
