U.S. Secretary of State tells Ukraine that Trump wants to end war ‘as soon as possible’

WASHINGTON – U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio held a call with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha on Friday and told him President Donald Trump was determined to end the Russia-Ukraine war as soon as possible, the State Department said.

“The Secretary underscored President Trump is determined to end the war as soon as possible and emphasized that all sides must take steps to secure a sustainable peace,” the State Department said in a statement after the call.

FM Sybiha described the call as “constructive,” saying on X, “Ukraine wants the war to end, and US leadership is essential for achieving lasting peace. We also discussed ways to advance our bilateral cooperation.”

U.S. President Donald Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, said he was in discussions with Ukraine for a peace agreement framework to end the three-year war, and confirmed that a meeting was planned next week with the Ukrainians in Saudi Arabia.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said intensive contacts were taking place with U.S. officials all day.

“Today the most intensive work has been going on all day with President Trump’s team at different levels—many calls,” Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address.

“The topic is clear—peace as quickly as possible, the most reliable security possible. Ukraine is committed to being as constructive as possible.”

Kyiv has been pressing for robust security guarantees for any peace deal, but the U.S. has declined to commit, pointing to a potential critical minerals agreement that Trump says would be enough. Zelenskiy has yet to sign the minerals agreement and clashed with Trump publicly a week ago.

White House national security adviser Mike Waltz said he and Secretary of State Marco Rubio would be at the talks with the Ukrainians in Saudi Arabia, and that he thought they would get things back on track.