US Secretary of State says Ukraine must cede territory in any peace deal

Marco Rubio has said that Ukraine must make concessions on land taken by Russia since 2014 for any peace agreement to end the war.

Rubio’s statement was made ahead of the high-level peace talks in Saudi Arabia to be held on March 11 where a Ukrainian delegation led by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy‘s chief of staff will meet him to discuss an end to the three-year war with Russia.

“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 while flying to Jeddah.

However, Rubio said it would be hard for the Ukrainians to discuss concessions, considering their immense loss.

“It has been a costly and bloody war for the Ukrainians. They have suffered greatly and their people have suffered greatly,” he said.

“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,” he talked to reporters in Saudi Arabia.

Over a week ago, Zelenskyy and President Trump had a heated exchange over the latter’s refusal to include any security guarantees in a proposed deal involving Ukraine’s natural resources. Following the incident, Trump halted military aid to Ukraine.

Rubio said that “both sides need to come to an understanding that there’s no military solution to this situation.”

The Russian armed forces “can’t conquer all of Ukraine,” he added.

“It’ll be very difficult for Ukraine in any reasonable time period to sort of force the Russians back to where they were in 2014,” Rubio said.

Two senior Ukrainian officials have said that Kyiv will propose a Black Sea ceasefire, a halt to long-range missile attacks, and a prisoner exchange at the talks.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the officials also revealed Ukraine's readiness to sign a deal with the US granting access to its rare earth minerals, a key priority for President Donald Trump.

This meeting is crucial for Ukraine as it is working to mend relations after Zelensky's fiasco at the Oval Office during his US visit on Feb 28.

Meanwhile, Zelenskyy arrived in Saudi Arabia on March 10 and appreciated the government for providing a platform for peace talks.

"Saudi Arabia provides a crucial platform for diplomacy, and we appreciate this," Zelenskyy said online.

He met with the kingdom's powerful crown prince and said they "had a detailed discussion on the steps and conditions needed to end the war and secure a reliable and lasting peace.”

However, the European Union has shown skepticism about the talks as it has been sidelined by Washington. It had last week agreed to boost the continent's defenses and to free up hundreds of billions of euros for security in response to the Trump administration's shift in stance on Ukraine.