United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio has decided not to attend negotiations in Istanbul on 16 May due to the low ranking nature of the Russian delegation present at the talks. According to Rubio, the Kremlin’s choice to send a minor delegation falls short of expectations, prompting him to limit his visit to meetings with Ukrainian and Turkish counterparts instead.
Rubio confirmed on 15 May that he would still travel to Istanbul, where he is scheduled to meet with Andriy Sybiha, Ukraine’s Deputy Foreign Minister, and other Ukrainian officials. However, he made it clear that he would not engage directly with Russian representatives, stating, “Someone from our team will participate in the negotiations regarding Russia. They sent a lower level group here.”
The US Secretary of State had originally planned to attend a high level NATO Foreign Ministers’ meeting and was expecting direct talks involving Ukraine and Russia. However, he explained that such high level engagement had not materialised. “We came because we were told that there might be direct interaction between the Russians and the Ukrainians. That did not happen,” Rubio said, adding that if any interaction does occur, it will be below the standard initially expected.
Rubio also expressed doubt about any serious progress being made in negotiations between Ukraine and Russia until United States President Donald Trump and Russian dictator Vladimir Putin directly communicate.
