Rubio on Russia Ukraine ceasefire talks

    by Jolyon: Vladimir Putin

    Putin has an invitation to the G20 in December, and separately Sec. Rubio is floating a narrow Russia-Ukraine ceasefire that would cover energy and grain. Moscow and Kyiv have both signaled they're interested in that arrangement, and Zelensky brought the idea straight to the U.S. himself. Rubio's own framing is that this wouldn't stop the fighting, though it might take some weight off globally. #VladimirPutin

    Transcript (en)

    Did you find that the Russians are at all interested in the energy ceasefire as Zelensky has been proposing? I think both sides have expressed an interest in some limited ceasefire that involved grain and energy. Obviously, you know, that won't be easy either because, but it's something that both sides have expressed an interest in. I think President Zelensky has done so publicly, did it with us yesterday, did it, I think, in interviews over the last few hours. And so obviously, look, that's something that might happen. It doesn't solve the war, but it does, I think, in some ways potentially alleviate some of the global pressures that are being felt as a result of that. So that's something we're always open to exploring. It's been a feature of every conversation that we've had with them. It was a feature of the Whitcoff-Kushner meeting in Moscow and in Kiev. It was a feature of our conversation with President Zelensky yesterday. And it's something that if we can play a constructive role in making happen, we'd be very open to. So we've invited President Putin to the G20. We think it's an opportunity for him to engage not just with the president but with other world leaders. We hope that's an invitation he'll accept. There's an opportunity in December if that happens.