Secretary of State Marco Rubio addressed the United Nations Security Council in a ministerial meeting focused on the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Rubio highlighted the efforts of President Donald J. Trump to resolve international conflicts, referencing past U.S. involvement in mediating disputes between India and Pakistan, Thailand and Cambodia, as well as supporting peace initiatives concerning the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda, and facilitating an agreement between Azerbaijan and Armenia.
Rubio emphasized that resolving the war in Ukraine has been particularly challenging despite significant diplomatic engagement by President Trump and senior U.S. officials. "The President has worked on it tirelessly, has invested a tremendous amount of his own time, energy, and the highest levels of our government. We have had meetings in Türkiye, meetings in Saudi Arabia, meetings in Alaska, countless phone calls, doing everything possible to bring this conflict to a resolution and to an end – a war that cannot end militarily. It will end at a negotiating table. That’s where this war will end. But the longer it lasts, the more people will die, the more will be destroyed," Rubio stated.
He described heavy losses among Russian military personnel: "Some of the numbers we are seeing in the loss of life among military personnel, for example on the Russian Federation’s side, are staggering. Staggering. In one month alone, more losses – more loss of life than in the entirety of the U.S. engagement in Afghanistan or Iraq."
Rubio noted that ceasefire proposals have been offered with terms including maintaining current lines of contact while further negotiations take place regarding territorial issues. He said that President Trump had refrained from imposing additional sanctions on Russia to encourage progress toward peace but warned about recent escalations such as increased strikes and incursions into neighboring airspace.
"The President is a very patient man, he’s very committed to peace, but his patience is not infinite," Rubio remarked. He outlined potential future steps: "He has before him the opportunity and the options of imposing additional economic costs on the Russian Federation... He also has before him the option...to sell defensive weaponry, and potentially offensive weaponry so that Ukraine can defend itself from this assault by purchasing that weaponry."
Rubio concluded by urging all parties involved—including members of the Security Council—to work toward ending hostilities: "I strongly urge...all sides to bring this war to an end before it becomes something that will last another three or four years...This war needs to end. But if it does not – if there is no path to peace in the short term – then the United States and President Donald J. Trump will take steps necessary to impose costs for continued aggression."
