President Trump Hopes Negotiations With President Putin Can Stop Ukraine's War

JAKARTA - United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio said President Donald Trump hopes to stop the war in Ukraine when negotiating with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday, although a comprehensive solution to this war will take longer.

"To achieve peace, I think we all realize that there needs to be talks about security guarantees. There needs to be talks about territorial disputes and claims, and what is up for grabs," Foreign Minister Rubio told reporters at the State Department on Thursday.

"All of these things will be part of a comprehensive thing. But I think the President's hope is to achieve a halt to fighting so that talks can occur," he continued.

Foreign Minister Rubio further said, the longer the war lasts, the harder it will be to end it.

"And even as I speak there are changes that occur on the battlefield that affect what one party considers bargaining power or other parties. So, that's the reality of the ongoing fighting, that's why the ceasefire is so important," he said.

"But we'll see what might happen tomorrow. Let's see how the negotiations go. And we are hopeful. We want peace. We will do everything we can to achieve it, but in the end, Ukraine and Russia will agree," he hoped.

Foreign Minister Rubio added that preparations for the meeting were "very fast," as everything was prepared very quickly.

He said he believed President Trump had spoken by telephone with President Putin four times and "Feeled it was important to now speak to him directly and look into his eyes, and find out what was possible and what wasn't."

"He sees an opportunity to talk about the achievement of peace. He will seek it, and we will know tomorrow, as the President said, maybe at the beginning of the meeting, whether something was possible or not. We hope so," he concluded.