[Trending News] Rubio hopes for 'reset': 'You cannot end a war unless both sides come to the table'

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Sunday that he had not had any communication with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy following Friday’s explosive White House meeting that erupted into a shouting match, but that he hoped efforts to end the devastating war in the country could be “reset.”

“I haven’t had any contact with him since Friday,” Rubio said during an interview with ABC News’ “This Week” anchor George Stephanopoulos, adding that he also hadn’t spoken to his Ukrainian counterpart, Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrii Sybiha, since then.

As he has consistently done in recent days, the secretary defended the actions of President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance while chastising Zelenskyy, saying the Ukrainian leader’s comments in the Oval Office ran counter to efforts to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine, which was sparked by a full-scale invasion by Russia more than three years ago.

“We have to bring [Russia] to the table. You’re not going to bring them to the table if you’re calling them names, if you’re being antagonistic. That’s just the president’s instincts from years and years and years of putting together deals,” Rubio argued.

Stephanopoulos asked why the president then felt it was appropriate to call Zelenskyy a dictator, as he has done multiple times in recent weeks.

“Listen, we’ve spent three years calling Vladimir Putin names. That’s not the point now. The point that we’re at now is we’re trying to get the man to a table,” Rubio responded.

As the president and the vice president did during their meeting with Zelenskyy, the secretary also took issue with the Ukrainian President questioning the administration’s diplomatic approach — even though Rubio himself has said it’s still not clear if the Kremlin truly wants peace.

“This was understood by the Ukrainians. It was explained to them repeatedly,” Rubio said. “Everyone knows the history here, the back and forth. We understand that. We all understand that. But the question now is, can we get them to a table to negotiate? That’s our goal. Don’t do anything to disrupt that.”

But the secretary alleged that Zelenskyy “couldn’t contain himself in that regard,” and derailed peace talks during the meeting by trying to “Ukraine-splain on every issue.”

“I hope this could all be reset. I hope he comes to the realization that we’re actually trying to help his country here before it suffers thousands of more casualties,” Rubio said. “Why is any of this good for anybody? And the argument that we’re going to just keep it going forever? That’s absurd.”

Rubio also acknowledged that achieving a diplomatic resolution to the conflict wasn’t a certainty.

“We are trying to end a war. You cannot end a war unless both sides come to the table, starting with the Russians,” Rubio said. “I’m not promising you it’s possible. I’m not telling you it’s 90% likely. I’m saying it’s 0% likely if we don’t get them to a negotiating table.”

During the interview, Rubio also pushed back on criticism from Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, who wrote in a post on X that “I am sick to my stomach as the administration appears to be walking away from our allies and embracing Putin, a threat to democracy and U.S. values around the world.”

“What have we done to placate the Russians? The only thing we’ve done is say, “are you guys willing to talk about peace?'” Rubio said.

Stephanopoulos raised the administration’s controversial decision to side with Russia in the United Nations Security Council this week by putting forward a resolution on the war that doesn’t explicitly blame Russian aggression inciting the war, which was ultimately adopted by the council, while refusing to back a European-drafted resolution that condemned Moscow.

“It basically said this has been a horrible war. It’s time for it to end,” the secretary said of the U.S.’s resolution.

“The sooner everyone grows up around here and figures out that this is a bad war that’s heading in a bad direction, with death and destruction and all kinds of danger surrounding it that could spiral into a broader conflict — the sooner people grow up and realize that — I think the more progress we’re going to be able to make,” he continued.

As it has ramped up its efforts to end the war in Ukraine, the Trump administration has faced criticism for publicly saying Kyiv will ultimately have to cede territory to Moscow and throwing cold water on Ukraine’s NATO ambitions while saying nothing about concessions Russia will need to make.

Stephanopoulos asked Rubio about what the Kremlin would need to yield in order to end the war.

“Well, why would I say that on a news broadcast? That’s what negotiations are about,” Rubio said. “This is not a messaging exercise, okay? This is ‘can they get to a table?’ And then there’s hard work to be done.”