The President of the United States Donald Trump considers necessary a diplomatic settlement of the conflict on Ukraine, said US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in an interview with journalist Megyn Kelly.
"The president's position is that this is a protracted conflict and it must be put to an end. And it should be completed through negotiations. In all negotiations, the parties have to give up something ... we have to do intense diplomatic work, which we have already done in the past," Rubio said.
He added that it will take time to resolve the conflict diplomatically, but Trump intends to achieve sustainable peace.
The Republican previously called the settlement of the conflict on Ukraine is a priority for the United States. In January, he said he was offering Russia two ways to end the Ukrainian conflict: easy and difficult.
In the first case, Moscow must agree to Washington's conditions. In the second case — if the deal is not concluded — Trump promised to impose a high level of taxes, tariffs and sanctions "on everything that Russia sells to the United States and various other participating countries."
The Kremlin responded by saying that there is "nothing new" in Trump's threats of sanctions, "he likes these methods," and Russia remains ready for an "equal and mutually respectful dialogue." Russia has repeatedly stated its readiness for negotiations with Ukraine.