"Foreign assistance programs that align with administration policies — and which advance American interests — will be administered by the State Department," U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said.
United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio surprised NATO allies with conflicting messages on Russia sanctions, delivering a tougher stance in private than in his public remarks, POLITICO reported on June 25.
"If we did what everybody here wants us to do, and that is come in and crush them with more sanctions, we probably lose our ability to talk to them about the ceasefire and then who's talking to them?" U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio congratulated the Russian people on June 12, Russia's National Day, and expressed a desire for "constructive engagement" to bring peace to Ukraine.
A Trump State Department official who shut down a U.S. counter-disinformation office has Kremlin ties, the Telegraph reported on June 3. The official, Darren Beattie, is married to the niece of a former Russian official linked to Putin and has echoed pro-Kremlin narratives.
The State Department confirmed that Russia requested the call and that Rubio reiterated President Trump's call for direct talks between Russia and Ukraine to achieve "a lasting peace."
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov also "informed Marco Rubio about implementing the May 19 agreements between President of Russia Vladimir Putin and President of the United States Donald Trump," the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
The United States granted immediate sanctions relief to Syria after President Donald Trump called for a complete end to sanctions on the country. The sanctions relief was announced by the U.S. Treasury Department and State Department on May 23.
"War crimes have been committed, no doubt, and who is responsible for that, there will be a time and place for that accountability, but right now the job is to end the war," U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said.
Ukraine has consistently warned that its current air defense capacity is insufficient to counter the scale of Russia's intensified missile and drone attacks.
"During our talks we discussed negotiations in Istanbul to where the Russians sent a low level delegation of non-decision-makers," Zelensky wrote on X.
Asked whether the Vatican could act as a peace broker, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he "wouldn’t call it broker, but it’s certainly — I think it’s a place that both sides would be comfortable going."
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov reportedly welcomed what he described as a “constructive” role by Washington in encouraging Kyiv to accept President Vladimir Putin’s proposal to resume peace talks in Istanbul.
"We are headed for a summit in six weeks in which virtually every member of NATO will be at or above 2%, but more importantly, many of them will be over 4% and all will have agreed on a goal of reaching 5% over the next decade," U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on May 15 denied reports that the United States opposes President Volodymyr Zelensky's participation at the upcoming NATO summit in The Hague.
U.S. State Secretary Marco Rubio said that meaningful progress would likely only come through a meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
"We discussed in detail the logic of further steps and shared our approaches... It is critical that Russia reciprocate Ukraine's constructive steps. So far, it has not. Moscow must understand that rejecting peace comes at a cost," Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov confirmed that a Russian delegation will be in Istanbul on May 15 for direct peace talks with Ukraine. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Putin’s foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov will likely represent Russia.
"Our people are going to be going there," U.S. President Donald Trump said.
The comments came after Trump urged Ukraine to agree to direct negotiations with Russia, which has invited Kyiv to peace talks in Istanbul on May 15, without first agreeing to halt military operations.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio will travel to to Antalya, Turkey, for a NATO foreign ministers’ meeting from May 14–16, where he is expected to address the war in Ukraine and push for stronger Allied defense commitments.
In the interim, Secretary of State Marco Rubio will take on the role of national security adviser while continuing to lead the State Department.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio praised France’s leadership in building support for a peace agreement, but stressed that European partners must “step up with real resources and political will” if they hope to bring the war to an end.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio "underscored to his Russian counterpart the next steps in Russia-Ukraine peace talks and the need to end the war now," U.S. State Department Spokesperson Tammy Bruce said.
Key developments on April 26-27: * Ukraine, Europe's ceasefire proposal includes US security guarantees, no recognition of Crimea, Reuters reports. * Next week could be critical in deciding future US involvement in Russia-Ukraine peace negotiations, Rubio says. * 'He's just tapping me along' — Trump admits Putin may not be interested in ending war
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the upcoming week will be crucial for determining whether the U.S. will continue its involvement in efforts to end Russia’s war in Ukraine, NBC News reported on April 27.
According to the publication, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte is scheduled to meet with U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and National Security Advisor Mike Waltz.
Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, who is set to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow for their fourth meeting on April 25, has reportedly promoted the idea. It has "not found much traction in the White House," and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has opposed it, Politico reported.
“I don’t know about by the end of the week. I’m hopeful that we can get to something quickly,” U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in an interview with the Honestly podcast on April 23.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff were originally expected to attend, but have since pulled out, U.S. and European officials told the Financial Times.
"If for some reason one of the two parties makes it very difficult, we're just going to say: 'you're foolish, you're fools, you're horrible people,' and we're just going to take a pass. But hopefully we won't have to do that," U.S. President Donald Trump said.
U.S. officials said they expect tangible progress soon, while European participants pushed Washington to prepare a harsher response if Moscow fails to engage, Bloomberg reported.
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