A possible meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin will depend on whether progress is made on ending the war in Ukraine, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on February 20.
Rubio said in an interview that he told Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov during their meeting on February 18 in Saudi Arabia that there won’t be a meeting “until we know what the meeting is going to be about.”
Such meetings usually are not held “until you know some outcome or some progress has been made,” he added.
At the talks in Riyadh, Russia and the United States agreed to establish teams to negotiate a path to ending the war that began when Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. Both Putin and Trump have said they want to hold a summit.
"So I think when that meeting happens will largely depend on whether we can make any progress on ending the war in Ukraine, and if we can, and that meeting is what seals the deal, I think everybody should celebrate that President Trump is a peacemaker," he said.
SEE ALSO: What We Learned From High-Stakes U.S.-Russia Talks In Saudi ArabiaRubio spoke with American journalist Catherine Herridge in an interview broadcast on X.
Trump has been pushing for a quick deal to end the war, but his tactics have alarmed Ukraine and European governments because they fear that Russia and the U.S. might cut a deal that ignores their security interests.
Trump on February 19 shocked Ukraine and its European allies by calling President Volodymyr Zelenskyy a "dictator" and falsely blaming Ukraine for the full-scale invasion by Russia.
Lavrov on February 20 attended a meeting of the Group of 20 nations in South Africa and met on the sidelines with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
Lavrov said Russia's relations with China "have become and remain an increasingly significant factor in stabilizing the international situation and preventing it from sliding into total confrontation,” according to a statement released by the Russian Foreign Ministry.
Wang told other G20 foreign ministers that a "window for peace" is opening for Ukraine, and China supports “all efforts conducive to peace," according to a Chinese Foreign Ministry statement.
The G20 is made up of 19 of the world's major economies, the European Union, and the African Union. South Africa currently holds the rotating presidency of the organization, whose goal is to bring developed and developing countries together to create a foundation for global economic stability and foster cooperation.
Rubio decided not to attend the two-day G20 meeting amid tensions with South Africa over some of its policies that the Trump administration has characterized as anti-American. The U.S. was represented by Dana Brown, its acting ambassador to South Africa.