Rubio says US has "done its best" for Ukraine peace and now understands Russia "better"

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has assessed that Washington has made sufficient efforts to reach a peaceful settlement between Ukraine and Russia.

Rubio said in an interview with The Free Press that "there is no military end to this war" and that the United States is trying to promote a diplomatic solution.

"What I would say we’re involved in is understanding what is the Russian position (we have a better understanding of that now because we’ve actually spoken to them after three years of not speaking to them); what is the Ukrainian position; and figure out are these guys even in the same neighbourhood," he said.

"Because if they are in completely different zip codes, then we may have to conclude that they’re so far apart that peace is impossible at this time," he added.

Rubio pointed out that the United States, for its part, has "done our best" and will continue to do so "as long as there’s a realistic path forward".

"If at some point we determine that we’re just too far apart and not enough movement is happening, we may need to move on to other priorities because there are a lot of important things happening in the world. This is not our war," Rubio said.

He explained that a peaceful settlement does not depend on the US, but "it’s up to Russia, and it’s up to Ukraine".

Earlier, Rubio announced that the United States is prepared to abandon its efforts to achieve peace in Ukraine if no progress is made in the coming days.

US President Donald Trump confirmed he might also walk away from attempts to broker a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia, though he did not specify the conditions under which this would occur.