Secretary of State Marco Rubio said from Geneva, Switzerland, Sunday that his latest meeting on ending the Russia-Ukraine war was the “most productive” so far.
This despite criticisms that the Trump administration’s peace plan is nothing more than a “Russian wish list.” There has been confusion over whether the proposal was authored by the U.S. or by Russia. Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD) said Saturday that Rubio made it very clear to him and a bipartisan group of lawmakers that the plan “was delivered to one of our representatives. It is not our recommendation; it is not our peace plan.”
Rubio and the State Department denied that statement, insisting the plan was drafted by the U.S. with input from Russia and Ukraine.
“It isn’t just my personal view — this has probably been the most productive and meaningful meeting we’ve had so far in this entire process since we became involved,” Rubio said from Geneva on Sunday. “From the start, we had a solid work product built on input from all relevant parties, and today we were able to go through many of those items point by point. I believe we made real progress.”
Rubio said he was making “adjustments” to the plan with a goal of “further narrowing the differences and getting closer to an outcome that both Ukraine and the United States can be comfortable with.”
“Of course, any final agreement will ultimately need to be approved by our presidents. But I feel confident about that happening, given the progress made so far,” Rubio continued. “Then there is the Russian side of the equation — but based on the insights we’ve gathered over the last nine months, we have a good understanding of the issues that matter most to them as well.”
President Donald Trump has given Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky until Thursday to accept the plan, but Rubio suggested that may be extended.
The claims of progress in Geneva came despite Trump, on Truth Social Sunday, slamming Ukraine’s “LEADERSHIP” without mentioning Zelensky by name.
“The War between Russia and Ukraine is a violent and terrible one that, with strong and proper U.S. and Ukrainian LEADERSHIP, would have NEVER HAPPENED,” Trump wrote.
He added that “UKRAINE ‘LEADERSHIP’ HAS EXPRESSED ZERO GRATITUDE FOR OUR EFFORTS” to help end the war.
Watch the clip above via CNN.
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