In an interview aired on Sunday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio addressed the timing of a potential face-to-face meeting between President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin about the ceasefire agreement in Ukraine.
Trump told reporters on Friday in Air Force 1 that he would not reach Ukraine peace until he returned from Abu Dhabi to Washington, D.C., where he met Putin in person. The president added that in the Truth Social Post on Saturday he planned to speak to Putin on the phone on Monday, and then received calls with Ukrainian President Voldymir Zelensky and NATO leaders.
Meanwhile, Rubio attended Pope Leo XIV's Mass in Rome on Sunday, said the Vatican had offered to hold in-person meetings with Ukraine, Russia and possibly other political parties.
“Obviously, the Vatican has made a very generous offer to hold not only meetings between Zelensky and Putin, but all meetings that need to be hosted, as well as meetings that need to be hosted. They expressed their willingness to do so. “So it will be a site that will make all involved feel comfortable. So hopefully, we will reach a stage where consultations are happening regularly and the Vatican has the opportunity to become one of the options.”
Zelenskyy shares details about his encounter with Vance with Rubio in Rome after the Russian Peace Conference stalls
Ukrainian President Voldy Mie Zelensky, left and Vice President J.D. Vance, right, watches ahead of Pope Leo XIV's official inauguration Mass on Sunday in St. Peters Square, Rome. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Rubio called on Saturday with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov after a no-show in a face-to-face meeting with a Russian leader called Zelensky in Turkey last week. Despite Putin's absence, the Ukrainian and Russian delegations agreed to exchange 1,000 prisoners from their respective sides, but a wider ceasefire or peace agreement could not be realized.
CBS host Margaret Brennan asked Rubio if he had spoken with Lavrov about lining up Trump and Putin's in-person meeting.
“Well, we talked about a lot of different things,” Rubio said. “I wanted to get his reading with his views on how yesterday's lecture went. They weren't entirely a waste of time. For example, there were 1,000 prisoners being exchanged, and he explained to me that he was very positive from a humanitarian point of view.
Rubio said that Ukrainians will work on their own proposals that will soon come, and he hoped that the proposals from both sides would become “serious and viable.”
“So we have to wait and see. But he wanted me to know and he told us on our phone that their side was working on a set of ideas and requirements they have to move forward with a ceasefire and further negotiations,” he said.
Rubio said the US is “testing” whether Russians are just “tapping” them, just like Trump does.
From left: Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Vice President J.D. Vance, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and European Commission's Ursula von der Leyen will arrive at a meeting at Rome's Palace of Chigui on Sunday. (AP photo/Jaclyn Martin, Pool)
Zelenskyy talks with Trump, after Russian peace speaks broker, allies
“On the one hand, we are trying to achieve peace and end a very bloody, expensive, destructive war. So there are some elements of patience that are necessary. On the other hand, we don't have time to waste,” Rubio said. “There are many other things happening in the world that we also need to pay attention to. So we don't want to be involved in this endless lecture process. It takes some progress, some movement.
“On the other hand, if what we're seeing isn't very productive, there's probably another rating. Ultimately, I agree that one of the things that will help us break this logjam (probably a direct conversation between President Trump and Vladimir Putin.”
Pushing whether face-to-face consultations between Trump and Putin are planned, Rubio has reiterated that the president has already made the offer public.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani will meet Tajani's wife, Brunella Orecchio, Left, Rubio's wife, Janet Dodeves, on Saturday at Villa Madama in Rome. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
“The mechanisms to set up meetings like this require a little bit of work, so I can't say it's planned when talking about choosing a site and a date,” Rubio said. “But the president wants to do that. He wants to be viable. I think the Russian side has also expressed his willingness to do that. And now it's the question of taking them and figuring out where and when that will happen.”
Rubio joined Vice President JD Vance to meet with Zelensky at the US Ambassador's residence in Rome on Sunday.
According to a spokesman for the vice president, Vance and Rubio later met with Italian Prime Minister Georgia Meloni and European Commission President Ukrainian von der Leyen on discussions about trade, the war in Ukraine and NATO spending.
“Individual countries within Europe are important ally of the United States. But of course, just like our friends on issues like trade, we have some disagreements. And there are also many agreements and many that we can work together.
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After the meeting, the Vice President's Office issued a statement saying, “The leaders discussed their common goal of ending bloodshed in Ukraine and provided an update on the current state of negotiations for a ceasefire and lasting peace.”
Meghan Tomes and the Associated Press of Fox News contributed to this report.
