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US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the Trump administration remains ready to help end the Ukraine war but admitted there is no quick path to a peace deal. After talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Rubio said Washington would continue seeking a middle ground while maintaining military support for Kyiv.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the Donald Trump administration remains ready to help end the "senseless war" in Ukraine but acknowledged that there is no quick path to a peace deal. Speaking after talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Manila on Thursday, Rubio said previous US-mediated efforts had been "unsuccessful or at least unfruitful" but stressed that President Donald Trump remained committed to pursuing diplomacy "if conditions and factors have changed to make that possible."

"That's been the challenge — an end that both sides can accept," Rubio told reporters. "We've tried and we'll continue to try to see if we can, you know, find a middle ground that brings this about. And we're prepared to play that role if the opportunity presents itself."

Rubio said fresh ideas would be needed to move negotiations forward while reiterating that Washington's military support for Ukraine remains unchanged, with NATO allies purchasing weapons and transferring them to Kyiv.

Meanwhile, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Lavrov told Rubio that further arming of Ukraine was unacceptable and accused European countries of seeking Russia's "strategic defeat." The ministry also said Russia remained ready for "a political and diplomatic resolution of the conflict" and committed to agreements reached during last year's summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Trump in Alaska.