Displaying items by tag: Marco Rubio

At high-level talks with the USA in Saudi Arabia, foreign minister Sergei Lavrov has declared that Russia will not accept NATO peacekeeping forces in Ukraine under any peace agreement. The discussions marked the first known face-to-face meeting between Russian and American delegations since the invasion began. Both sides agreed to appoint teams to negotiate an end to the war, which US secretary of state Marco Rubio called a significant step. Ukraine was not invited, prompting Volodymyr Zelensky to express frustration over decisions being made without his country's involvement. European leaders held emergency talks in Paris but failed to reach a unified response to the negotiations. While the UK suggested a security presence in Ukraine, Germany and other European nations opposed the idea. Zelensky, visibly tired and upset, will also know that his country's chances of resisting - let alone defeating - Russian troops without American help are very slim.