The U.S. Secretary of State believes that Ukraine must cede territory in any peace agreement

Ukraine must cede territory as part of any peace agreement.

This statement was made by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

According to The New York Times, he made the remark on a plane en route to Saudi Arabia.

“The most important thing we need to leave with (after tomorrow’s negotiations with the Ukrainian delegation – Ed.) is a clear sense that Ukraine is ready to take difficult steps, just as the Russians will have to take difficult steps to bring this conflict to an end or at least pause it in some way, shape, or form,” Rubio said.

“I think both sides need to come to the realization that there is no military solution to this situation. The Russians cannot conquer all of Ukraine, and clearly, Ukraine will find it very difficult in any reasonable timeframe to force the Russians back to where they were in 2014,” Rubio said.

Earlier, Rubio stated that at the meeting in Saudi Arabia, the U.S. wants to understand what concessions Kyiv is willing to make for the sake of peace.