Rubio calls Ukraine meeting ‘productive and meaningful’ as US pushes plan to end war

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Sunday that peace talks in Geneva, Switzerland, aimed at ending the war between Ukraine and Russia were “productive and meaningful.”

Rubio met with the Ukrainian delegation in Geneva and said progress was made on discussions over a draft US plan to end the conflict. 

"So I think the takeaway from it is, I think this is a very, very meaningful, I would say, probably best meeting and day we've had so far in this entire process, going back to when we first came to office in January," Rubio told reporters.

Speaking at the US mission, Rubio said leaders of both Ukraine and Russia would need to sign off on any agreement, but said he was “comfortable” a deal could be reached.

"Obviously, we now have to take what we come up with, if we can reach that agreement with the Ukrainian side, to the Russian side,” Rubio said. “They have to agree to this in order for this to work."

The secretary said the deadline to finish negotiations is “as soon as possible,” adding that “substantial” progress had been made to finalize an agreement “very soon.”

“Between today and the time that we deal with this, more people are going to die,” Rubio added. “Our goal is to end this war as soon as possible. But we need a little more time.” He also emphasized that any final deal must ensure Ukraine feels “safe and it is never going to be invaded or attacked again.”

Echoing Rubio’s optimism, Andriy Yermak, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s chief of staff, said the meeting was a “very productive first session with the distinguished American delegation.” In a post on X on Sunday, Yermak said another meeting would take place “very soon today” to continue “work on joint proposals with the engagement of our European partners.” He also thanked President Donald Trump and the United States “for their commitment to bring peace.”

The Trump administration has put pressure on Ukraine to sign a peace deal by Thanksgiving on Thursday or else face a loss of intelligence sharing and weapons.