Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Sunday said that while the United States, Russia and Ukraine view a permanent peace deal as the best way to end the war, a temporary ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia is “not off the table.”“It was agreed to by all that the best way to end this conflict is through a full peace deal,” Rubio said during an interview with NBC News. “There’s no doubt about that. I mean, who would be against the fact that tomorrow we came to you and said, ‘We have a full peace deal, and it’s done.’ I think that’s the best way to end the war.”“Now, whether there needs to be a ceasefire on the way there, well, we’ve advocated for that,” Rubio added. “Unfortunately, the Russians, as of now, have not agreed to that.”Rubio’s comments came hours after President Donald Trump returned from Alaska, where he met with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin and a delegation of Russian leaders. Although Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other officials were not present at the talks, US officials still expressed hope that progress could be made toward a ceasefire or eventual peace agreement.After the Alaska summit, Trump told reporters, “There’s no deal until there’s a deal.”Rubio placed the responsibility for stalled progress on Moscow, pointing to continued Russian strikes in Ukraine.“We think usually it’s very hard to negotiate when you’re in the middle of hostilities. But that said, the only way to have a ceasefire is for both sides to agree to stop firing at one another … and the Russians just haven’t agreed to that,” he said.Zelenskyy is expected at the White House on Monday to meet with Trump and European leaders, including German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Finland President Alexander Stubb, European Commission President Ursula von der Leye and Nato Secretary-General Mark Rutte.At a joint press conference with von der Leye in Brussels on Sunday, Zelenskyy said a ceasefire is crucial to advance peace deal negotiations.“Putin has many demands, but we do not know all of them, and if there are really as many as we have heard about, then it will take a lot of time to go through all of them, and it is impossible to do this under the pressure of weapons,” Zelenskyy told reporters. “So, it is necessary to stop the fire and work quickly on a final agreement. We will talk about this in Washington. Putin does not want to stop the killings, but he must do it.”Rubio also defended the Trump administration’s decision not to impose new sanctions on Russia, arguing that such measures could undermine ongoing peace efforts. “If we’re not going to be able to reach an agreement here at any point, then there are going to be consequences, not only the consequences of the war continuing, but the consequences of all those sanctions continuing, and potentially new sanctions on top of it as well. But what we’re trying to do right now is end the war,” Rubio said during interview.“I don’t think new sanctions on Russia are going to force them to accept ceasefire. They’re already under very severe sanctions,” he added. The secretary of state said imposing new sanctions on Russia could undermine efforts to reach a lasting peace deal. He also defended the Trump administration’s decision not to impose new sanctions on Russia, arguing that such measures could undermine ongoing peace efforts.Senator Chris Murphy, Democrat of Connecticut, had called Trump’s meeting with Putin “a disaster”. “That meeting was a disaster. It was an embarrassment for the United States. It was a failure. Putin got everything he wanted,” Murphy said.“Trump said, ‘If I don’t get a ceasefire, Putin is going to pay a price.’ And then he walked out of that meeting saying, ‘I didn’t get a ceasefire. I didn’t get a peace deal, and I’m not even considering sanctions,’” Murphy added. “You heard Secretary Rubio downplay sanctions. And so Putin walks away with his photo op with zero commitments made and zero consequences. What a great day for Russia.”
