Setback for Zelenskyy Before Peace Talks, Rubio Says Ukraine Must Be Prepared To Lose Annexed Territories By Russia- wna24

Jeddah: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has pushed Ukrainian President on the backfoot even before the commencement of the peace talks in Saudi Arabia saying Zelenskyy may have to let go of the territories already annexed by Russia in the war which has been continuing for three years now.

According to reports, Marco Rubio said it’s going to be very difficult for Ukraine to force Russia to go back to 2014 status at any point of time. He added Kyiv should be prepared to let go of its territories already annexed by Russia, once the negotiations start taking place.

Ukraine should make up its mind and prepared to do difficult things just as the Russians may have to do to end the war, Rubio said.

Rubio further added that both the sides — Russia and Ukraine — must admit that there is not going to be any military solution to end this war.

Zelenskyy’s Ukraine has been demanding that Russia should go back to the 2014 status quo and asked West to assure it security guarantees as well in case of any future aggression by Putin.

In 2014, Moscow annexed Crimea after claiming that the region had voted to be part of Russia.

After Russia-Ukraine war started in 2022, Moscow gained control of four Ukrainian territories including Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia. But Kyiv still claims sovereignty in the annexed regions by Russia.

After White House showdown with Zelenskyy almost two weeks ago, US President Donald Trump lashed out at his Ukrainian counterpart saying that he didn’t want peace. Trump ordered his administration to halt US military assistance to Kyiv and also stopped sharing intelligence.

Trump accused Zelenskyy of gambling with World War 3 and lives of millions of people.

Donald Trump was seen visibly frustrated with Zelenskyy at the Oval Office after the latter was not agreeing for a ceasefire and rather trying to play his cards when he was not in a position to do so. Trump made it clear to Zelenskyy that he was losing the war and couldn’t dictate the terms for negotiations.