U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Sunday said a negotiation process for ending the war in Ukraine had not yet begun in earnest, and that if talks advanced, Ukraine and other European countries would be brought into the fold.
On Feb. 16, the French government stated it will host a summit of European leaders on Feb. 17 to discuss the Russia–Ukraine war and European security after retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg, Trump’s special envoy for Ukraine and Russia, did not include Europe in negotiations over Ukraine’s future following years of war with Russia.
Rubio eased European concerns about being cut out of the initial talks between Russia and the United States, which are set to take place in Saudi Arabia in the coming days.
In an interview with CBS, Rubio said Ukraine and Europe would be part of any “real negotiations” to end Moscow’s war.
“President Trump spoke to Vladimir Putin last week, and in it, Vladimir Putin expressed his interest in peace, and the president expressed his desire to see an end to this conflict in a way that was enduring and that protected Ukrainian sovereignty,” Rubio said on CBS’s “Meet the Press.”
“Now, obviously it has to be followed up by action, so the next few weeks and days will determine whether it’s serious or not. Ultimately, one phone call does not make peace.”
The Kremlin said on Sunday that the significance of the phone call between Putin and Trump was that now Russia and the United States would speak about peace, rather than war.
“This is a powerful signal that we will now try to solve problems through dialogue,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told state TV Kremlin reporter Pavel Zarubin in a clip released on Sunday. “Now we will talk about peace, not war.”
U.S. Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and national security adviser Mike Waltz were due to leave for Saudi Arabia on Sunday evening, Witkoff said in a Fox News interview.
Rubio noted that he was due to be in Saudi Arabia anyway due to previously arranged official travel. The composition of the Russian delegation had not yet been finalized, he said.
French President Emmanuel Macron will host European leaders on Monday for an emergency summit on the Ukraine war.
The French presidency said on Sunday that Macron had called for the “consultation talks” and that they would address the change in the U.S. approach to Ukraine and any attendant risks to the security of the European continent.
Macron has invited at least the UK, Germany, Poland, Italy, and Denmark, representing the Baltic and Scandinavian countries; the European Union leadership; and the NATO secretary-general, according to six European diplomats. They said the purpose of the meeting is to discuss what immediate help can be given to Ukraine and the role Europe can play in providing both security guarantees to Kyiv and Europe at large.
The Trump administration is pushing European allies in NATO to take a primary role in security guarantees for the region as the United States prioritizes border security and counters Chinese political and military influence.
A day earlier, President Donald Trump’s Ukraine envoy said that Europe would not be included in peace talks for Ukraine but it does not mean their “interests are not considered, used, or developed.”
At a global security conference in Munich, Kellogg said the United States would act as an intermediary in talks between Ukraine and Russia.
“I’m [from] a school of realism,” Kellogg said, regarding Europe having a seat at the table during negotiations. “I think that’s not going to happen.”
Some European leaders pushed back on the potential exclusion.
“There’s no way in which we can have discussions or negotiations about Ukraine, Ukraine’s future or European security structure, without Europeans,” Finnish President Alexander Stubb told reporters in Munich.
“But this means that Europe needs to get its act together. Europe needs to talk less and do more.”
The questionnaire Kellogg sent to Europeans “will force Europeans to think,” Stubb said.
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte urged Europeans to get involved.
“And to my European friends, I would say, get into the debate, not by complaining that you might, yes or no, be at the table, but by coming up with concrete proposals, ideas, ramp up [defense] spending,” he said.
Kellogg said territorial concessions from Russia and ways to target its oil revenues could be discussed in the talks over ending the war between it and Ukraine.
“Russia is really a petro-state,” he said, adding that the West needs to do more to adequately enforce sanctions against Russia.
U.S. and Russian officials will meet in Saudi Arabia in the coming days for continued peace talks, according to Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas). After meeting with U.S. Vice President JD Vance in Germany on Feb. 14, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his nation was not invited to the talks in Saudi Arabia and that Kyiv would consult with strategic partners before engaging with Russia.
Rubio, Waltz, and Witkoff will travel to Saudi Arabia, McCaul said.
The talks are meant to arrange a meeting with Trump, Putin, and Zelenskyy to “finally bring peace and end this conflict,” he said.
