Rubio says Ukraine may need to do ‘difficult things’ to get peace deal

London: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio says Ukraine may be forced to “do difficult things” as part of any deal to end the war, noting it will be tough for the country to reclaim the land it has lost to Russia.

Rubio is in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, where a high-level delegation of US officials will meet their Ukrainian counterparts on Tuesday to discuss a deal for mineral rights and a ceasefire.

On the plane on the way, he told reporters: “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.

Marco Rubio and Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman meet at the Royal Palace in Jeddah.Credit: AP

“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.”

Until now, discussions on a ceasefire deal have centred on the need for US security guarantees for international peacekeeping forces in return for perhaps the right to exploit Ukrainian rare minerals.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has previously said his country could give up some Russia-occupied territory in return for the rest of Kyiv-controlled Ukraine entering NATO.

Volodymyr Zelensky (centre left) meets Prince Saud bin Mishaal, deputy governor of Saudi Arabia’s Mecca region (centre right), in Riyadh.Credit: AP

Rubio said an American ban on sending weapons and intelligence could be lifted imminently if crunch talks went well. He said Washington needed to understand Kyiv’s position and have a general idea of what concessions they might make.

Critics are asking how much the Trump administration is pressuring Russian President Vladimir Putin to compromise. Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, plans to visit Moscow this week to meet with Putin.

“I think the notion of the pause in aid, broadly, is something I hope we can resolve. Obviously, what happens tomorrow will be key to that,” Rubio said. “They have suffered greatly, and their people have suffered greatly. And it’s hard in the aftermath of something like that to even talk about concessions, but that’s the only way this is going to end and prevent more suffering.”

Hours before the talks were to start, the Russian military said it had shot down 337 Ukrainian drones over 10 regions, including Moscow, in what appearred to be the biggest drone attack by Kyiv in three years.

Meanwhile, world leaders will take part in a virtual meeting on Saturday (UK time) to work out how to support Ukraine should a ceasefire be reached.

British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer will host what he has called “a coalition of the willing” – a group of mainly European and Commonwealth countries.

Downing Street on Monday said the exact participants had yet to be confirmed, but officials last week said that “about 20″ countries, including Australia, were holding talks about how they might support Ukraine if the fighting stopped. They also could include the Baltic states of Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia, plus Canada, and possibly Spain, Denmark, Ireland and the Netherlands.

Zelensky posted on X ahead of talks that Ukraine had been “seeking peace since the very first second of the war”, adding that Russia was the “only reason” the war continued.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.Credit: Getty Images

“I am grateful to every unit and every brigade defending Ukraine’s positions, ensuring the destruction of the occupiers, and making every effort to provide our country with the strength needed to bring peace closer,” he said.

Ukraine is expected to propose an aerial and naval truce with Russia during the Saudi Arabia talks – something Zelensky has previously described as a chance to test Moscow’s commitment to ending the three-year war.

Rubio said he saw promise in a Ukrainian proposal for a partial ceasefire.

The Kremlin has lashed out at European efforts to interfere with the peace process, threatening Australia if it commits resources to a peacekeeping force while accusing the UK of acting as the “main instigator” of global conflict, blaming it for starting both world wars last century.

Downing Street said the suggestion was “completely farcical”.

Military officials from more than 30 countries, including Australia, will take part in a summit in Paris on Tuesday to discuss the creation of an international peacekeeping force. Not all countries are prepared to offer troops, but could provide logistical or “backfilling” for British or French troops currently deployed in other theatres.

Spain and Denmark announced on Monday they were drawing up plans for various levels of involvement.

Government sources told Madrid’s El Pais newspaper that while the official position on troop deployments was to “wait and see”, the nation’s Defence Ministry was working on several scenarios, including the deployment of military observers and training staff.

Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron have been working to repair a rift after US President Donald Trump ratcheted up the pressure on Kyiv to agree on a ceasefire since the Oval Office bust-up with Zelensky that resulted in Washington cutting off military and intelligence support to Ukraine.

France and Britain are also thought to have persuaded a long list of nations to join the military talks, including leaders from Japan and South Korea, who will attend remotely.

A Downing Street spokesman said each of the meetings this week would progress planning, but no one should “get ahead of proposals being made public”.

Starmer has stressed the need for the US to provide a “backstop” security guarantee, a commitment to intervene if a European-led peacekeeping mission comes under threat.

Officials have warned of a “chicken and egg” situation where European and Commonwealth nations will not promise troops without US guarantees, but Trump will not make commitments unless Europe steps up to defend itself.

Get a note directly from our foreign correspondents on what’s making headlines around the world. Sign up for the weekly What in the World newsletter here.