Kellogg suggests Ukraine could be divided between West, Russia like postwar Berlin
Apr 12, 2025
Russia and the U.S. agreed Tuesday to start working towards ending the war in Ukraine and improving their diplomatic and economic ties, America’s top diplomat said after talks that reflected an extraordinary about-face in U.S. foreign policy under President Donald Trump.
In an interview with The Associated Press, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the two side agreed broadly to pursue three goals: to restore staffing at their respective embassies in Washington and Moscow, to create a high-level team to support Ukraine peace talks, and to explore closer relations and economic cooperation.
He stressed, however, that the talks — which were also attended by his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov — marked the beginning of a conversation, and more work needs to be done down the road.
No Ukrainian officials were present at the meeting, which came as the beleaguered country is slowly but steadily losing ground against more numerous Russian troops in a grinding war that began nearly three years ago. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his country wouldn’t accept any outcome from this week’s talks if Kyiv doesn’t take part. European allies have also expressed concerns they are being sidelined.
Improving Russian-US relations
Ties between Russia and the U.S. have fallen to their lowest level in decades during the war. Both embassies have been hit hard by expulsions of large numbers of diplomats over the course of several years, and the U.S., along with European nations, imposed a raft of sanctions on Russia. The allies have repeatedly expanded the measures to damage Moscow’s economy.
“Should this conflict come to an acceptable end, the incredible opportunities that exist to partner with the Russians geopolitically on issues of common interest and frankly, economically on issues that hopefully will be good for the world and also improve our relations in the long term,” Rubio said.
His comments were further evidence of the remarkable U.S. reversal on Russia after years in which Trump’s predecessor, Joe Biden, led international efforts to isolate Moscow.
