Secretary of State Marco Rubio applauded President Donald Trump for the progress he has made towards peace when it comes to the war in Ukraine, while he accused the former Biden administration of doing nothing to change the circumstances of the war.
Rubio appeared on Fox News’ ‘Jesse Waters Prime Time’ Monday evening after the day-long talks between U.S. and European officials that included Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. During the appearance, he praised Trump as ‘the only leader in the world’ who has proven he can broker a peace deal between Zelenskyy’s Ukraine and Vladimir Putin’s Russia, adding that the Monday talks were ‘unprecedented.’
‘After three years of deadlock, and no talks, and no change in circumstances, this is the first time where there seems to be some movement,’ the secretary said. ‘This has been going on for three-and-a-half years. A lot of people have died, a lot of territories exchanged back-and-forth, so it’s not an easy thing to unwind, but nothing was happening on this war. Literally, the only option we were given under the previous administration was continue to fund Ukraine for however much they need, for however long it takes.’
Rubio pointed out that finally, under a new administration, people are ‘actually talking about pathways toward ending [the war in Ukraine].’
‘It’s going to take a little bit more work, and a little bit more time, but we are making progress,’ Rubio argued. ‘It’s not me saying it, that is virtually every leader there [on Monday] said that.’
Rubio said that prior to Trump, the fighting in Ukraine was nothing more than a ‘stalemated war of death and destruction.’ He also complained that under Biden there was no plan other than to continue giving weapons to Ukraine.
‘That’s the other dynamic that’s changed – we’re no longer giving Ukraine weapons, we’re no longer giving Ukraine money, we are now selling them weapons and European countries are paying for it through NATO. They are using NATO to buy the weapons and transferring them to Ukraine,’ Rubio pointed out. ‘That’s another big change from the way this war was approached under the Biden administration.’
Following the Monday peace talks in D.C., reports surfaced that Putin had agreed to a future meeting with Zelenskyy, followed by a trilateral meeting involving the United States.
For Rubio, just the fact that the two countries are open to talking to each other is a win and a big change from the previous administration.
‘I’m not saying they are going to leave that room with a peace deal, but I think the fact that people are now talking to each other – this wasn’t happening for three-and-a-half years,’ Rubio told host Waters, adding that Trump has ‘made it a priority’ to bring about peace in Ukraine.
The secretary also cited six previous peace agreements that he said Trump has brokered, which Rubio said proves Trump’s commitment to peace and fewer wars.
‘President Trump is the only leader in the world – acknowledged by all the Europeans – the only leader in the world that can talk to both [Putin and Zelenskyy] and bring them both to a meeting,’ Rubio said Monday evening. ‘We should be proud that we have a president who has made peace a priority in his administration.’