US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said that Russia's war against Ukraine is actually " about Donbas" .
Source: Rubio speaking at a press conference, as quoted by Radio Liberty
Quote: "I would just say to you that that war – people keep talking about it's a war in Ukraine. That war is about Donbas. It's about one region of the country. It's – at its core, it's about 11 per cent of one part of that country that Russia wants and cannot take militarily and that Ukraine is unwilling to give up. And they have good reasons why they don't want to do that – for sovereignty and their own security long term."
Details: Rubio stressed that the war in Ukraine could not be resolved militarily and could only end through diplomacy. The question, he said, was whether "there's some accommodation, that both sides will have to make some concessions in order to bring an end to the war" .
Quote: "So, it's been difficult, but I can tell you this: As hard as it is, it is impossible to do unless both sides are at the table talking, and we're happy to play the mediating role in that regard.
So that's really what we're trying to do – not claiming that just getting them in the room is going to solve this problem, but we have no chance to solve it if we can't get them in the room."
Background: Rubio claimed that Ukraine would not have been able to survive as a state without support from Washington, provided under both Joe Biden's presidency and the current administration. On 20 October, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described his conversation with Rubio as "constructive" and announced that they would speak again. He also noted that the talks with the US representatives in Oslo included a detailed discussion on security guarantees .
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