U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio emphasized the need for constructive and good-faith dialogue with Ukraine during a phone call with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. According to him, this position is key to ending the war.
This is reported by Kyiv24
Prisoner Exchange and New Agreements
During the negotiations, Rubio welcomed the completed prisoner exchange between Russia and Ukraine on the principle of “1,000 for 1,000.” State Department spokesperson Tami Bruce reported that the Secretary of State reiterated the importance of dialogue, which had previously been stated by U.S. President Donald Trump, calling it the only way to end the armed conflict.
“Rubio welcomed the prisoner exchange between Russia and Ukraine on the principle of ‘1,000 for 1,000.’ The Secretary of State reiterated President Trump’s calls for constructive, good-faith dialogue with Ukraine as the only path to ending this war,” said State Department spokesperson Tami Bruce.
Russia’s Proposals for New Negotiations
In turn, the Russian Foreign Ministry informed that during the conversation on May 28, Lavrov told Rubio about the implementation of agreements reached on May 19 by Presidents Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump, as well as the progress of negotiations in Istanbul. On the same day, Sergey Lavrov stated that Russia proposed to Ukraine to hold a second round of negotiations in Istanbul on June 2. According to him, the Russian side has prepared a memorandum regarding a peace agreement, which will be presented by Russian presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky.
In response to these events, U.S. President Donald Trump noted that he plans to provide an answer within two weeks regarding whether Putin truly seeks to end the war in Ukraine. Trump expressed the opinion that Russia now “wants to do something,” but specific decisions are only possible after signing the relevant agreement.