WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced on Tuesday that ending Russia’s war in Ukraine would become a cornerstone of US foreign policy under President Donald Trump, as part of the goal administration’s broader commitment to prioritizing peace and stability on the global stage.
Former US Senator Rubio, a China hawk and strong supporter of Israel, was the first of Trump’s Cabinet nominees to be sworn in on Tuesday, after the US Senate unanimously confirmed his nomination on Monday night. Additional votes on other Trump nominees were expected this week.
During his confirmation hearing last week, the new top U.S. diplomat said both Moscow and kyiv would have to make concessions to end the war and suggested Ukraine would have to give up its goal of taking back all the territory Russia has seized. the last decade.
Rubio echoed those comments NBCon Tuesday’s “Today” show before the swearing-in ceremony.
“The official policy of the United States will be that the war has to end and we are going to do everything possible to achieve that,” he said.
Former President Joe Biden, who sent billions of dollars in American weapons to Ukraine after Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, insisted it was up to Ukraine to decide if and when to engage in peace talks with Russia. .
Trump, during his presidential campaign, said he would quickly end the war, without saying how he would do it.
Rubio said it would be “complicated… because each party will have to give something.”
“The only way conflicts like this end is … not through public pronouncements,” Rubio said. “They end in a tough and vibrant diplomacy that the United States seeks to engage in, hoping to end this conflict sustainably, in a way that ensures the security of Ukraine and our partners in the region, but to stop the killings, deaths and destruction that we have been seeing for quite some time.
Rubio, 53, a Republican, was a longtime member of the Senate intelligence and foreign relations committees. The son of immigrants from Cuba, he has also pushed for tough measures against the communist-ruled island and its allies, especially the government of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
Speaking at the White House after being sworn in, Rubio pledged that he would carry out Trump’s foreign policy of “promoting the national interest of this country.”
He added that another objective of Trump’s foreign policy will be “the promotion of peace. Of course, peace through strength, peace and always without abandoning our values.”
