Marco Rubio: US may give up on Ukraine after three years of stalemate conflict

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated that while resolving the conflict in Ukraine is important, there are many other critical issues that deserve American attention.

"We’ve spent three years, billions of dollars supporting the Ukrainian side, and – but now we’ve reached the point where we have other things we have to focus on. We’re prepared to be engaged in this as long as it takes, but not indefinitely, not without progress. If this is not possible, we’re going to need to move on," he said.

According to Rubio, this is why the United States intends to evaluate within the coming days whether a settlement can realistically be reached in the near future. If not, President Donald Trump will shift his focus to other high-priority topics, Rubio said.

US may stop acting as mediator

The U.S. will end its attempts to act as a mediator in achieving a peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine within a few days unless clear signs of a possible deal emerge, Rubio told reporters after meeting with European and Ukrainian representatives in Paris.

The Secretary of State emphasized that President Trump is interested in a peace agreement, but he has many other priorities and is prepared to move on if progress is not evident.

"I think the President feels strongly that we’ve dedicated a tremendous – we’ve done more in 80 days than Biden ever did to bring this war to an end.  So, we’ve dedicated the – almost the entirety of the President’s first hundred days in office at the highest levels possible to trying to achieve a peace here.  And if it’s going to happen, we want to help.  But if it’s not going to happen, we need to know now because we have other things we have to deal with," Rubio said.

The day before, French President Emmanuel Macron met with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and President Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff. The main topic of discussion was the resolution of the conflict in Ukraine. In Paris, the Ukrainian delegation — led by Andriy Yermak, Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha, and Defense Minister Rustem Umerov — also held meetings with representatives of the so-called "coalition of the willing," which includes 30 countries such as Germany, France, and the United Kingdom.

Following these meetings, the U.S. State Department said that the peace framework proposed by the United States was "enthusiastically” received in Paris. It was noted that Rubio conveyed updates on the negotiations to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

Meanwhile, the French presidential administration described the talks as "constructive,” emphasizing the growing involvement of European nations — particularly the UK, France, and Germany — in the discussions.

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Marco Antonio Rubio (born May 27, 1971) is an American politician, attorney, and diplomat serving since 2025 as the 72nd United States secretary of state. A member of the Republican Party, he represented Florida in the United States Senate from 2011 to 2025, and was a candidate during the 2016 Republican Party primary elections for president of the United States. During his tenure as secretary of state, he has also served as the acting administrator of USAID and acting archivist of the United States. Rubio is a Cuban American from Miami, Florida. He has a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Miami. After serving as a city commissioner for West Miami in the 1990s, he was elected in 2000 to represent the 111th district in the Florida House of Representatives. As the Republican majority leader, he was subsequently elected speaker of the Florida House; he served for two years beginning in November 2006. Rubio left the Florida legislature in 2008 due to term limits, and began teaching at Florida International University.