U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Tuesday, September 16th, that President Donald Trump is expected to meet with his Ukrainian counterpart next week, as U.S.-led peace efforts continue.
Trump has repeatedly warned of sanctions against Moscow if President Vladimir Putin refuses to make concessions, but he has yet to act, even as Russia escalates its attacks—leaving Ukraine increasingly frustrated.
According to Rubio, Trump has had “multiple calls with Putin, multiple meetings with [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelensky, including probably next week again in New York”, where leaders will gather for the UN General Assembly.
“He’s going to keep trying. If peace is possible, he wants to achieve it,” Rubio told reporters in Israel, adding
At some point the president may conclude it’s not possible. He’s not there yet, but he could get to that point.
Rubio referred to a statistic Trump cited previously, noting that Russia suffered the loss of 20,000 troops in July fighting alone.
A month ago, Trump hosted Putin in Alaska—the first visit by the Russian leader to a Western country since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine in 2022—and only days later he met Zelensky with European leaders at the White House.
Rubio emphasized that Trump was unique in being able to engage directly with Putin, Zelensky, and European leaders alike:
If somehow he were to disengage from this, or sanction Russia and say, ‘I’m done’, then there’s no one left in the world that could possibly mediate the end.
