US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has outlined the final hurdle blocking the conclusion of negotiations on the war in Ukraine. According to him, the only outstanding issue requiring alignment between Kyiv and Moscow concerns territorial questions regarding the Donbas.
"It is a very difficult issue," the Secretary of State characterized the situation during a hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
He emphasized that other disagreements have effectively been resolved, identifying the status of Donetsk as the "remaining point."
Concurrently, Washington is reconfiguring its delegation. President Donald Trump's chief envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, who played a key role in previous rounds of dialogue, will not participate in future meetings. Rubio noted that while a US presence in the next stages of negotiations is possible, the specific personnel will change.
These remarks came shortly after Rubio disclosed details regarding the future security architecture set to take effect after an agreement is signed. Washington is promoting the concept of an "American backstop": physical presence in Ukraine would be provided by European troops—primarily British and French—while the US would act as the guarantor of "last resort."
Earlier, the Secretary explained to senators that without US military backing, European contingents "don't matter," arguing that NATO partners have critically degraded their defense capabilities over the past 30 years.