Top US Priority on Russia–Ukraine War Is Reaching Immediate Cease-fire, Rubio Says

Zelensky said he is ready to meet Putin in Turkey on Thursday after Trump told him to immediately accept the Kremlin leader’s proposal for a direct meeting.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the US position on the Russian-Ukraine war has reached a point where, according to the department, a “immediate ceasefire” can be declared between the two sides.

In a call with British Foreign Secretary David Lamy, Rubio said, “My top priority is to “end the fighting and immediate ceasefire” in the Russian-Ukraine conflict.

Rubio also spoke with new German Prime Minister Friedrich Merz. Regarding Ukraine, the US Secretary of State said, “The two shared “Prime Minister (France) (Emanuel) Macron (UK) (Kier) (Poland) (Donald) Zeavaian Semmer, in Ukraine.”

Ramie is scheduled to hold a European delegation in London on Monday for discussions on Ukraine and Europe’s security initiatives.

Last weekend, European leaders joined Zelensky in demanding a 30-day ceasefire from Monday, urging Russian President Vladimir Putin to protest to host the first Ukrainian-Russian conversation since the early months of the 2022 invasion.

As US President Donald Trump wrote in Truth Society on Sunday, he was called to write that he doubted Ukraine would reach a contract to end the conflict with Russia, calling on top Ukrainian officials to negotiate with Russian officials in Turkey immediately.

“We are beginning to doubt Ukraine will make a deal with Putin,” Trump said. “Russian President Putin doesn’t want to win a ceasefire contract with Ukraine, but he would rather meet in Turkey on Thursday to negotiate the possibility of a bloody shower.”

The conference means that the US, Europe and both countries at war can “determine whether a transaction is possible,” he said.

“If not, European leaders and the United States can know where everything is and proceed accordingly!” the president said in his post.

Meanwhile, Zelenskyy said in a post on X that he is ready to meet Putin in Turkey on Thursday after Trump publicly told him to accept the Kremlin leader’s proposal for a direct meeting.

“We’re starting tomorrow and waiting for a complete and lasting ceasefire. …I’m waiting for Putin in Turkie on Thursday,” Zelensky wrote to X, using another method of spelling out the name of the country of Turkey. “Personally, I hope that the Russians don’t look for excuses this time.”

Last week, both Moscow and Kiev accused each other of ceasefire violations of Russia of declaring that it would commemorate the 80th anniversary of Nazi Germany’s defeat during World War II during three payment periods from May 8 to May 10.

The Ukrainian forces said in their Battlefield Operations accounts late May 9 that 162 armed conflicts have been recorded over the past 24 hours, with the Kremlin ceasefire in effect, along with 22 air strikes and 956 drone attacks. However, the Russian Ministry of Defense accounts said last week it had registered four attempts to crush the border into the Kursk and Belgorod regions.

Reuters contributed to this report.