US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the current conflict in Ukraine can be resolved only at the negotiating table and that the United States is ready to play a mediating role. He spoke in an interview with the India Today television channel in New Delhi on October 22.
Rubio called it a very difficult conflict to end and said US President Donald Trump is paying a great deal of attention to it. He said American officials spend their days looking for ways to bridge differences and overcome existing disagreements.
"It’s been difficult, but I can tell you this: hard as it is, it is impossible to do unless both sides are at the table talking and we are happy to play the mediating role in that regard," Rubio said. He added that he was not claiming a meeting in the same room would solve the problem, but that there is no chance of solving it without getting the sides into a room.
The secretary of state said the question is whether both sides can reach an accommodation in which each makes concessions, receives some benefit, and brings the war to an end. "This war is not going to be solved militarily, this war is only going to end diplomatically," he said.
Earlier, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia highly values US mediation efforts to resolve the conflict in Ukraine.