The United States has repeatedly explained to Ukraine that the issue of achieving peace was more important than security guarantees, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said.
"Security guarantees, which I actually like to call deterrence of the few, are all contention upon there being peace. Everybody's saying, 'security guarantees to secure the peace' — you first have to have a peace. We don't even know if peace is possible, and this was understood by the Ukrainians. It was explained to them repeatedly, and that is our strategy," he said in an interview with the ABC News broadcaster.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, during a meeting with permanent members of the Russian Security Council in January, said that the goal of settling the conflict in Ukraine should not be a short truce and a respite for regrouping forces and rearming with the aim of subsequently continuing the conflict, but long-term peace.
According to Putin, the Russian authorities will continue to fight for the interests of the Russian people; this is the meaning of the special operation. Peace in Ukraine, Putin noted, must be based on "respect for the legitimate interests of all people, all nations that live in this region."
In turn, US President Donald Trump said that Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky was ready to conclude a deal to resolve the conflict in Ukraine but did not specify on what terms.