Rubio Says US Aid to Ukraine Could Resume Soon

Secretary of State Marco Rubio says American military and intelligence support for Ukraine could resume if talks on Tuesday go well. The suspension of aid "came about because we felt the Ukrainians were not committed" to talks on ending the conflict, but "if that changes, obviously our posture can change," Rubio told reporters after he arrived in Saudi Arabia on Monday. "My hope is we'll have a really good meeting tomorrow and be in a different place," he said, per the Washington Post.

Rubio will hold talks with a high-level Ukrainian delegation while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who also arrived in Saudi Arabia on Monday, will meet separately with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and is not expected to play a formal role in talks with US officials, the BBC reports. Rubio said that to end the war, both Russia and Ukraine will need to make concessions, reports the New York Times. "I think both sides need to come to an understanding that there's no military solution to this situation," he said. "The Russians can't conquer all of Ukraine, and obviously it'll be very difficult for Ukraine in any reasonable time period to sort of force the Russians back all the way to where they were in 2014."

Russia, which launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine just over three years ago, has rejected calls for a temporary or partial ceasefire. Rubio, however, said Monday that a Ukrainian proposal has "promise." ABC News reports that Ukrainian officials are proposing a pause in attacks at sea and long-range missile attacks. White House special envoy Steve Witkoff said Monday that the pause in intelligence-sharing did not cover "anything defensive that the Ukrainians need," the AP reports. Rubio said the Ukrainians are "already receiving defensive intelligence information as we speak." (More Russia-Ukraine war stories.)