U.S. secretary of state Marco Rubio said Friday that Washington would not force Ukraine into a peace agreement with Russia, as European and American officials gathered in Miami for renewed diplomatic talks against the backdrop of growing political and financial fractures inside the European Union.
“There’s no peace deal unless Ukraine agrees to it,” Rubio told reporters in Washington, dismissing claims that the United States was pressuring Kyiv to accept territorial concessions. He said neither Ukraine nor Russia could be compelled into an agreement.
“This whole narrative that we’re trying to force something on Ukraine is silly,” Rubio said. “We can’t force Ukraine to make a deal. We can’t force Russia to make a deal. They have to want to make a deal.”
The talks come as Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed to continue his military offensive, claiming steady advances along the front line and predicting further gains before the end of the year. Fighting has continued despite the diplomatic push, with Ukrainian officials reporting a deadly Russian ballistic missile strike on port infrastructure in the Odesa region on Friday.
Envoys of President Donald Trump, including global envoy Steve Witkoff and presidential adviser Jared Kushner, are leading the Miami discussions. The meetings involve senior officials from Britain, France, and Germany, as well as Ukraine’s chief negotiator Rustem Umerov. Separate talks between Russian and US officials are also expected in Florida.
The renewed diplomacy coincides with mounting controversy in Europe following Thursday’s EU summit, where leaders agreed on a €90-billion joint loan to keep Ukraine financially afloat, while postponing a decision on using frozen Russian state assets.
The loan triggered immediate backlash from across the European Right, with critics warning that it entrenches long-term liabilities for EU taxpayers while doing little to bring the war closer to an end.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said the overnight negotiations were aimed at holding back mounting “war pressure” from Brussels. He also warned that if Ukraine cannot repay the loan, EU states will ultimately bear the cost.
Hungary, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic agreed not to block the loan after securing opt-outs exempting them from financial guarantees. Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš said Prague would not guarantee the debt, while Slovak MEP Milan Uhrík questioned how the EU could lend €90 billion “it doesn’t even have.”
Behind the scenes, Belgium blocked the use of frozen Russian assets, citing legal and financial risks, while Italy backed a pragmatic pause and French President Emmanuel Macron suggested reopening dialogue with Moscow.
The loan may buy Ukraine time to avert a short-term liquidity crisis. But for Europe, it further normalises joint debt, shifts long-term risk onto taxpayers, and exposes a widening gap between confrontational rhetoric and political willingness to bear the real costs of escalation.
