According to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the only way to achieve a breakthrough in the peace settlement of Ukraine is a meeting between Putin and Zelensky after Friday's talks in Istanbul.
However, Russian President Vladimir Putin's press secretary Dmitry Peskov said that Putin does not plan to travel to Istanbul in the coming days. Trump, in turn, said that he did not know exactly where he would go on May 16, but that he would most likely return to the United States after his tour of the Middle East. At the same time, the US administration expects that a personal meeting of the leaders will take place very soon.
Rubio nevertheless told journalists in Antalya that a representative of the US administration will attend the negotiations in Istanbul.
When asked about the format of the negotiations scheduled for today, Rubio said that he will meet in Istanbul with “Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and the Ukrainian delegation“.
“I will meet with them. Someone from our team will participate in the negotiations with Russia. They sent a lower-level team,” Rubio said.
“I hope that these negotiations between Ukraine and Russia will be held in the presence of our Turkish counterparts, as well as some representatives or members of our team at the appropriate level“, the US Secretary of State continued.
The United States administration will not stop its mediation efforts for a peaceful settlement of Ukraine, but it does not intend to participate in unproductive negotiations, Rubio also said.
"What I can say with confidence is that the president is ready to support peace efforts as long as it is necessary to achieve peace. However, we cannot continue to fly around the world and participate in meetings that are not going to be productive. I had to be here for the NATO summit anyway, so it worked out that way," the US diplomat said.
He added that the US "will no longer pursue negotiations around the world." "We came because we were told that there could be direct interaction between Russia and Ukraine. That was the plan from the beginning. You all heard the same thing. But it hasn't happened yet," the secretary of state said.
Rubio believes that the composition of the Russian delegation indicates that the negotiations will not lead to a breakthrough in resolving the conflict in Ukraine.
„The caliber of the team that the Russian side sent certainly does not mean that it will lead to a major breakthrough. I hope I'm wrong. I hope I'm 100% wrong. "I hope Friday's news will say they've agreed to a ceasefire and they've agreed to start serious negotiations. But that's just my assessment," the secretary of state said.
The US Secretary of State said all NATO members would agree to a goal of spending the equivalent of 5% of GDP on defense over the next decade by the NATO summit in June, Reuters reported, quoted by BTA.
He expressed this opinion during his appearance on Fox News.
US President Donald Trump has cut NATO defense funding in the second half of his first term in 2017-21. and has often complained that the United States pays more than its fair share.
"I can tell you that we are heading towards a summit in six weeks where almost every NATO member will be at or above 2%, but more importantly, many will be above 4% and all will have agreed to the goal of reaching 5% within the next decade," Rubio said.
German Foreign Minister Johann Wadeful said this week that Berlin supported Trump's demand that members of the defense alliance increase their defense spending to 5% of GDP.
In January, Germany said it had met NATO's goal of spending 2% of its GDP on defense by 2024.
The 2025 NATO summit will be held in the Netherlands on June 24-25.