Washington —US Secretary of State Marco Rubio delivered a grim assessment of Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine on Sunday, conceding that despite Washington’s attempts to engineer a framework for peace, the conflict may not be resolved through American diplomacy.
Rubio said that while the United States would continue efforts to pursue an end to the war, it was possible that no scenario could be created to halt the fighting. His remarks reflected an unusual moment of candor from a senior US official, hinting at the limitations of American power in shaping outcomes on the battlefield.
“If peace is not going to be possible here and this is just going to continue on as a war, people will continue to die by the thousands … we may unfortunately wind up there, but we don’t want to wind up there,” Mr. Rubio said, The statement underscored the desperation of Washington’s current approach: a mix of high-level diplomacy, pressure on Moscow, and strained attempts to keep Kyiv aligned with US priorities.
For months, the Biden-era assumption that Washington could dictate terms of conflict resolution has been replaced with Trump’s reality of transactional deal-making. Rubio, a once-fiery critic of Moscow, now stands as the face of a fragile US foreign policy struggling to balance Ukraine’s demands with Russia’s hardened resolve. His acknowledgment that American diplomacy may simply not succeed in creating a viable peace framework is a sharp departure from years of confident US rhetoric.
The admission comes after a series of faltering summits, including the February meeting in Riyadh, where Washington attempted to push forward a deal with Russian participation but without meaningful Ukrainian input. That approach, widely criticized by Kyiv, highlighted the US’s willingness to bypass its ally in pursuit of what Trump branded a “practical solution.” Critics in Europe and Ukraine have warned that such maneuvers reveal Washington’s diminishing credibility as a mediator.
The statement also reflects the mounting costs of war fatigue in the West. With Ukraine battered by losses, European governments wary of endless conflict, and US taxpayers questioning billions funneled overseas, Rubio’s words could signal a softening of Washington’s ambitions. Rather than enforcing peace, the United States appears to be bracing for the uncomfortable reality that it may not be able to control the outcome at all.
According to Reuters, Rubio’s remarks were made in a nationally televised interview on March 3, 2025, where he openly stated that the United States may not be able to create the scenario needed to bring the war to an end, warning of continued bloodshed if diplomacy fails.
