Rubio: Trump eager to meet with Putin “as soon as possible”

CBS News reported the information.

The Secretary of State emphasized that the pursuit of peace and the end of the "very bloody, costly, and destructive war" requires some patience. At the same time, he noted that "we don't have time to waste" because many other important events are happening in the world that also demand attention.

"On the one hand, we're trying to achieve peace and end a very bloody, costly and destructive war. So, there's some element of patience that is required. On the other hand, we don't have time to waste. There are a lot of other things happening in the world that we also need to be paying attention to," he stressed.

Commenting on whether Russia is trying to buy time by agreeing to negotiations with Ukraine, Rubio said they are currently trying to figure that out.

“Are they tapping us along? Well, that's what we're trying to find out,” he said. “We'll find out pretty soon.”

According to Rubio, the only way to advance the negotiations is a personal meeting between Trump and Putin. He noted that the U.S. president has publicly proposed a face-to-face meeting.

“The mechanics of setting that kind of meeting up would require a little bit of work, so I can't say that's being planned as we speak in terms of picking a site and a date," Rubio said. "But the president wants to do it. He wants to do it as soon as feasible.”

• On May 16, a trilateral meeting was held in Istanbul between the delegations of Ukraine, the U.S., and Turkey. After that, talks took place between the Russian and Ukrainian delegations. According to Ukraine’s Defense Minister, they discussed the idea of a 1,000-for-1,000 POW exchange.
• Zelenskyy stated that in Istanbul, everyone saw a weak and unprepared Russian delegation without significant authority.
• Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated that a meeting between Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskyy is possible, but only as a "result of work" following the achievement of agreements.