Ukraine and Russia must both make concessions to end war, Rubio says
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Marco Rubio at his Senate Foreign Relations confirmation hearing on Jan. 15. Photo: Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
Ukraine and Russia both need to make concessions to end the war between them, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), President-elect Trump's pick for Secretary of State, said Wednesday at his confirmation hearing.
Why it matters: Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which will enter into its fourth year next month, poses one of the incoming Trump administration's greatest foreign policy challenges.
- Trump repeatedly vowed on the campaign trail to pursue a swift end to the war. Rubio, known for his hawkish views on foreign policy, would be instrumental in making this a reality by helping the U.S. navigate peace talks.
Driving the news: "I want people to stop dying. I want the killing to stop," Rubio said at his hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
- The U.S. should make "abundantly clear" that its official position on the conflict is that it should brought to a close, Rubio said.
- Rubio added that he disagreed with the Biden administration's perceived failure to clarify an end goal to the conflict.
- On many occasions U.S. aid to Ukraine "sounded like 'however much it takes, for however long it takes.' That is not a realistic or prudent position," he said.
Zoom in: "It is important for everyone to be realistic" in order to end the war, Rubio said.
- "There is no way Russia takes all of Ukraine. The Ukrainians are too brave and fight too hard and the country is too big. That's not going to happen," according to Rubio.
- But, he added, "there's no way Ukraine is also going to push these people all the way back to where they were on the eve of the invasion."
The big picture: The Russia-Ukraine war is almost certain to be a point of divergence between the incoming Trump and outgoing Biden administrations.
- Trump has often criticized the Biden administration's support for Ukraine. During a 2024 presidential debate, the president-elect refused to say he wanted to see Ukraine win the war.
- Trump reportedly suggested in private last year that he would end the war by pressuring Kyiv to cede territory to Moscow, a prospect that Ukrainian officials vehemently oppose.
- The Biden administration has deferred to Ukraine when it came to questions of peace talks, saying it wouldn't pressure Kyiv to negotiate and would operate with an ethos of "nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine."
Between the lines: While Trump pledged to end the Ukraine war within 24 hours of taking office, reports from the Financial Times and Reuters suggest the timeline for ending the war has been pushed by several months.
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky recently praised Trump's ability to help end the conflict.
Go deeper: What to know about the confirmation hearings for Trump's Cabinet picks this week
