Rubio says Florida talks make progress, but much work remains

He said this to journalists following the closed-door talks, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

“We had another very productive session building off Geneva, building off the events of this week,” the top U.S. diplomat noted.

He reiterated the American position that the main goal of the negotiations is not only to end the war, but to ensure lasting peace and security for Ukraine, prevent future aggression against it, and create conditions for its economic prosperity.

“I think we started laying the groundwork for that, most certainly in Geneva. I think we continued that work in our communications throughout the week,” Rubio continued.

He stressed the need to resolve “a delicate, complicated” issue with many variables. He also said it was clear that “here's another party involved here that will have to be a part of the equation,” referring to Russia.

Rubio noted that in the coming days President Trump’s Special Envoy Steve Witkoff would travel to Moscow. He added that the U.S. maintains contacts with Russia “we have a pretty good understanding of their views.”

Summing up, the Secretary of State emphasized: “So much work remains, but today was, again, a very productive and useful session where I think additional progress was made.”

He also underlined that the United States continues to realistically assess the difficulty of the task but remains optimistic.

As reported by Ukrinform, on Sunday the U.S. hosted a meeting of Ukrainian and American delegations on a plan to establish peace in Ukraine. The previous talks took place on November 23 in Geneva with the participation of European officials. At that time, the parties discussed the peace plan drafted by Washington for ending the war in Ukraine and confirmed that any future agreement must fully respect Ukraine’s sovereignty and ensure a stable and just peace.

Photo: Office of the President of Ukraine