U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington will continue efforts to bring Russia and Ukraine together to end their war, warning that fighting could spread beyond their borders and put neighboring countries at risk.
Speaking Monday in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, Rubio said a failed sabotage attempt or a drone knocked off course by electronic warfare could cause an incident in a neighboring country. He said the war’s underlying issues were hindering progress, but the United States would keep working to bring Moscow and Kyiv together. Rubio said the conflict also posed dangers beyond Ukraine and Russia, including for countries in Eastern Europe.
Rubio’s Uzbekistan visit also included meetings with officials from the C5+1 forum, which brings the United States together with five Central Asian states.
The Wall Street Journal reported that a proposed meeting of U.S. President Donald Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping could address the war in a format without Ukraine. Rubio said he believed the idea had been discussed but did not know whether a meeting had been finalized. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov described the possibility as hypothetical.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha objected to the proposed setup, arguing that excluding Kyiv could serve Putin’s interests, as he said in an earlier response to the summit proposal.
Trump has defended delaying new sanctions and tariffs under the 2026 Graham Act, arguing that the measures could affect negotiations. The White House order says existing Russia sanctions remain in effect; the waiver applies to the act’s new measures, as described in earlier coverage of the sanctions decision.
The Journal identified the Nov. 18-19 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit as a possible setting for the proposed meeting. No three-leader meeting is scheduled.
