A bipartisan consensus is emerging on Ukraine and how it’s not winning the war with Russia. And America needs an exit strategy.
“I think even a growing number of Democrats would now acknowledge that what we have been funding is a stalemate, a protracted conflict, and maybe even worse than a stalemate, one in which incrementally Ukraine is being destroyed and losing more and more territory. So this conflict needs to end,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio told Megyn Kelly this week.
Rubio says the “protracted conflict” must end in “negotiation,” where “both sides are going to have to give something up” via “the work of hard diplomacy, which is what we used to do in the world in the past.”
“But both sides in a negotiation have to give something. And that’s going to take time, but at least we have a President that recognizes that our objective is this conflict needs to end, and it needs to end in a way that’s enduring, because it’s an unsustainable – on all sides, it’s ultimately unsustainable,” he added.
The negotiated settlement is in the interest of Prime Minister Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Rubio argues, in light of the destruction wrought.
“Ukraine is being set back 100 years; their energy grid is being wiped out. I mean, someone’s going to have to pay for all this reconstruction after the fact. And how many Ukrainians have left Ukraine, living in other countries now? They may never return. I mean, that’s their future, and it’s in danger in that regard.”
Russia needs an exit, too.
“Both sides are paying a heavy price for this. Both sides have incentive for this conflict to end. It’s not going to end with the maximalist goals of either side, and there’s going to have to be a lot of hard work done. And I think only the United States, under the leadership of President Trump, can make that possible. But it won’t be easy, and it’ll take some time.”
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