Russia’s nearly three-year invasion of Ukraine has become a “war of attrition” and a “stalemate” that must end, Senator Marco Rubio, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for secretary of state, said on Wednesday in his Told senators at confirmation hearing. ,
Rubio broke with the passive stance of the administration of outgoing President Joe Biden, who has said it is up to Kiev to decide under what terms it will be open to peace talks with Moscow. Meanwhile, the US, along with its European allies, continues to send billions of dollars of arms to Ukraine to continue the fight.
Rubio instead said the first step to ending the war should be a ceasefire that would stop the ground fighting, which has been taking place mostly in eastern Ukraine for more than a year. However, fighting is also ongoing in Russia’s Kursk region, which Ukraine captured in August, even as Moscow has attempted to retake it with the help of North Korean troops.
The two countries target each other daily with airstrikes, drones and missiles, with Russian attacks killing thousands of Ukrainian civilians, as well as large numbers of soldiers from both countries.
“This war is over,” he said at his confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Rubio described the destruction in Ukraine as “extraordinary” and said that “it will take a generation to rebuild.”
But while calling for a negotiated solution to end the fighting that began with Russia’s invasion in February 2022, Rubio said it was unlikely there would be much change to the existing battle lines. Russia currently owns about one-fifth of internationally recognized Ukrainian land.
“The truth of the matter is that in this conflict, there is no way for Russia to occupy all of Ukraine,” Rubio said. “It’s unrealistic to even believe that somehow, a nation the size of Ukraine, no matter how incompetent and no matter how much damage was done to the Russian Federation as a result of this invasion, there is no way Ukraine could even push all these people. “A way to get back to where they were on the eve of the invasion.”
Democrats and some Republicans on the committee continued their support for more military aid to Ukraine and said it was important to give Kiev leverage in any eventual peace talks with Moscow.
But Rubio said one of Ukraine’s major problems is not a lack of ammunition or money, but an inability to train and recruit enough troops.
“The problem Ukraine is facing is not that they are running out of money, [it] Is that they are running out of Ukrainians,” he said.
Trump has expressed skepticism over continued US military support for Kiev and has repeatedly vowed to end the war before he takes office on January 20.
In recent days, his aides have said the new deadline would end the war within the first 100 days of his administration, which would be the end of April.
On the war front, officials in western Ukraine said Wednesday that a Russian missile strike hit critical infrastructure in the Lviv region, part of a series of attacks that President Volodymyr Zelensky said included more than 40 missiles and 70 drones were involved.
Zelensky said Russia’s targets included “gas and energy facilities that sustain normal life for our people”, but Ukrainian air defense shot down 30 missiles.
“Thanks to our air defense forces and all involved units, we managed to maintain the functionality of our energy system,” Zelensky said. “However, we must continue to strengthen Ukraine’s air shield capabilities. The promises made by partners at the NATO summit in Washington and within the Ramstein format are still partially unfulfilled.
Ukraine’s military issued an air alert for areas across the country on Wednesday, while the national power grid operator began cutting power to six regions.
Cherkasy Governor Ihor Taburets said on Telegram that Russian forces attacked with drones and missiles overnight, with two houses damaged by fragments from destroyed drones.
In Dnipropetrovsk, Governor Serhiy Lysak said on Telegram that Russian attacks included artillery, drones and missiles that damaged an industrial site.
Kirovohrad Governor Andrey Raikovich reported on Telegram what he described as a large-scale Russian drone strike that damaged several residential buildings.
Officials in the Rivne region also said that Russian missiles targeted the area overnight.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said it destroyed two Ukrainian drones in the Belgorod region and another in the Tambov region.
Belgorod Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said on Telegram that one person was injured in the Ukrainian attacks, while Tambov Governor Yevgeny Pervishov reported damage to a house.
Some information for this story was obtained from Reuters.
