Ukraine must make concessions in any peace deal, Rubio says

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on March 10 that Ukraine would need to make territorial concessions as part of any agreement to end the war.

Speaking while en route to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, for discussions with senior Ukrainian officials, Rubio emphasized the necessity of compromise from both Ukraine and Russia, stressing that difficult decisions would be required on both sides.

"The most important thing that we have to leave here with is a strong sense that Ukraine is prepared to do difficult things, like the Russians are going to have to do difficult things to end this conflict or at least pause it in some way, shape or form," he told reporters, according to the New York Times.

Rubio's remarks came just over a week after a tense White House meeting between President Donald Trump and President Volodymyr Zelensky. The meeting resulted in the Trump administration halting military aid to Ukraine due to disagreements over security guarantees in a proposed deal involving Ukraine’s natural resources.

While Rubio did not specify details of a potential agreement, he made it clear that mutual concessions would be key to any diplomatic resolution.

Addressing the military situation, Rubio expressed skepticism about a definitive victory for either side.

"I think both sides need to come to an understanding that there’s no military solution to this situation," the secretary of state said. "The Russians can’t conquer all of Ukraine, and obviously it’ll be very difficult for Ukraine in any reasonable time period to sort of force the Russians back all the way to where they were in 2014." He also noted that determining Russia’s willingness to compromise would be a crucial step in future negotiations.

Discussions in Jeddah are unlikely to include Trump’s earlier proposal, which suggested that U.S. financial interests in Ukrainian natural resources could serve as compensation for American military support.

Rubio also clarified that Ukraine’s access to Starlink, the satellite internet service provided by Elon Musk’s SpaceX, was never under threat. the U.S. still has leverage over Moscow and is attempting to bring Russia to the negotiating table. He also indicated that the resumption of military aid to Ukraine would be a topic of discussion in Tuesday’s meetings.