# ‘No military solution’ to Ukraine war, Rubio says ahead of Saudi meetings



**Marco Rubio and Mohammed bin Salman in the Royal Palace grounds in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on Monday. Photograph: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images**

**Oliver Holmes in London and Andrew Roth in Washington**

**Mon 10 Mar 2025 21.42 EDT**

First published on Mon 10 Mar 2025 15.13 EDT

There is “no military solution” to the conflict in Ukraine, US secretary of state Marco Rubio has said ahead of high-stakes meetings on Tuesday in  aimed at repairing a severely damaged relationship that has left embattled Kyiv without Washington’s support.

Ukraine’s delegation, led by Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, will meet Rubio, and other senior White House officials on what is seen as neutral ground in the Saudi city of Jeddah.

Ukraine’s position in the talks would be “fully constructive”, said Zelenskyy, its president, on Monday, adding that he hoped for practical outcomes from the negotiations on ending the Russian war in his country.

On his way to Jeddah, Rubio stressed the need to gauge Kyiv’s readiness to make concessions to reach peace.

He told reporters on the plane: “The most important thing that we have to leave here with is a strong sense that Ukraine is prepared to do difficult things, like the Russians are going to have to do difficult things, to end this conflict or at least pause it in some way, shape or form.”

“I think both sides need to come to an understanding that there’s no military solution to this situation.”

“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.”

It will be the first official meeting of the two governments since a  between Zelenskyy and Donald Trump, after which the US leader  and intelligence sharing.

The two presidents will not take part in the talks, although Zelenskyy was in Jeddah on Monday to meet the Saudi crown prince, , whose government has played a mediating role between  and Russia.

During the meeting in Jeddah, the crown prince underscored the kingdom’s support for international efforts to resolve Ukraine’s crisis and achieve peace, the Saudi state news agency SPA reported early on Tuesday.

Zelenskyy has also sent his foreign and defence ministers to Jeddah for the talks. On Sunday, he posted: “We are fully committed to constructive dialogue, and we hope to discuss and agree on the necessary decisions and steps.”

“Realistic proposals are on the table. The key is to move quickly and effectively.”

Russian forces – emboldened after Ukraine lost support from its biggest backer – have seized the moment,  while attempting to  who had maintained a seven-month foothold in the Russian region of Kursk.

Inside Ukraine, the country’s border guard said Russian forces were attempting to create an active fighting zone in the north-eastern region of Sumy, across the border from Kursk.

Kyiv’s top general, however, rejected reports that Ukrainian troops fighting in the Kursk region were at risk of encirclement by Russian forces backed by North Korean troops.

Pjotr Sauer said Washington expected substantial progress in Jeddah. Asked on Fox News if he thought Zelenskyy could sign the minerals deal this week, Witkoff said: “I am really hopeful. All the signs are very, very positive.” Intelligence sharing would be discussed at the meetings, Witkoff added.

However, Rubio, the US secretary of state, told reporters en route to Jeddah that there were still more details to be worked out on the minerals deal.

NBC News reported on Sunday that Trump would require more than just the minerals deal in order to resume deliveries of military aid and renew intelligence sharing with Ukraine. The outlet reported that Trump expected Ukraine to agree to key concessions for US support to resume, including a willingness to concede territory to Russia as part of peace talks and movement toward elections as well.

NBC and other US media have also reported that Trump may want to see Zelenskyy step down as part of that process. That stance has not been publicly confirmed by the White House.

But European allies have been reassured that the US is close to resuming military aid and intelligence sharing, and Trump told reporters onboard Air Force One that the US was “just about” ready to resume aid. “We want to do anything we can to get Ukraine serious about getting something done,” he said.

The Ukrainian side is expected to propose a peace plan that features a halt to drone and missile strikes, as well as a . Zelenskyy has said the proposal would be a test of Russia’s commitment to ending the war. So far, however, Vladimir Putin has shown no interest in a ceasefire.

Trump has said he would consider ending the suspension of intelligence sharing with Kyiv and Ukrainian troops remain under intense pressure.

Russia’s defence ministry has said its forces had recaptured three more settlements in the Kursk region and Russia’s ex-president Dmitry Medvedev claimed Kyiv’s forces were nearly surrounded. “The lid of the smoking cauldron is almost closed. The offensive continues,” he posted on Telegram.

Russian forces were reported to be closing in on the Ukrainian-held Russian town of Sudzha. On Sunday, Ukraine’s general staff said it had repelled an  by Russian sabotage and assault groups via a gas pipeline in the area. About 100 Russian soldiers spent four days crawling through the nine-mile-long (15km) pipeline that leads to Sudzha’s outskirts.

Inside Ukraine, the country’s border guard said Russian forces were attempting to create an active fighting zone in the north-eastern region of Sumy, across the border from Kursk.

Kyiv’s top general, however, rejected reports that Ukrainian troops fighting in the Kursk region were at risk of encirclement by Russian forces backed by North Korean troops.

Oleksandr Syrskyi, who said he was visiting the forces fighting in Kursk without providing an exact location, made the remark in a statement on social media. “A number of settlements on the border, the names of which appear in the reports of Russian propagandists, no longer actually exist – they have been destroyed by the aggressor’s shelling,” Syrskyi said.

“Despite the involvement of a significant number of Russian troops in the offensive, reinforced by North Korean infantry, the enemy is suffering significant losses in manpower and equipment,” he added.

Trump suggested this weekend that Ukraine may not be able to continue fighting in the war against Russia, even with support from the US. In an interview with Fox News, while defending his decision to cut support to Ukraine, he said: “Well, it may not survive anyway.”

Trump also said Zelenskyy had taken from the US under the Biden administration like “candy from a baby”. He repeated his claim that Zelenskyy was not “grateful” but did describe him as “smart” and “tough”.

_Additional reporting by Aletha Adu_
```