Rubio says Russia and Ukraine have both voiced interest in ‘limited ceasefire’

Ukraine and Russia have both ​voiced an interest in a limited ceasefire involving grain and energy-related targets, US Secretary of State ‌Marco Rubio said on Wednesday after meeting Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in New York.

Ukraine, which fears Russia plans to pound power and heating facilities with missiles and drones this winter, has been pressing for ceasefires covering energy infrastructure and Black Sea shipping.

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“I think both ​sides have expressed an interest in some limited ceasefire that involves grain and energy. Obviously, you know, that ​won’t be easy either,” Rubio told reporters.

Russia has given no public indication it is ready ⁠to agree to a maritime or energy truce with Ukraine, and it was not immediately clear if Rubio was suggesting ​there had been movement on the Russian side after his talks with Lavrov.

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Rubio noted that it was a particular challenge ​that energy strikes were at the core of both countries’ tactical priorities in their war, which is now in its fifth year.

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World leaders converged on New York this week for the annual UN General Assembly debate.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who was expected to address ​the General Assembly later on Wednesday, met US President Donald Trump on Tuesday and said they had discussed a ​ceasefire on energy-related targets.

The Ukrainian president told leaders at the United Nations earlier that Kyiv was ready for a maritime truce in ‌the Black ⁠Sea based on proposals such as those by Egypt, India and Turkey and said it was now up to Russia to respond.

Zelenskiy spoke at Ukraine’s Crimean Platform summit ahead of a Security Council meeting on Russia’s war in Ukraine.

“We are waiting for Russia’s response. Ukraine is ready … to ensure safe shipping and food security in the Black Sea if Russia ​is ready to take real ​steps towards de-escalation too. We ⁠have to start somewhere,” he said.

Top wheat importers in Asia, the Middle East and Africa that count on the Black Sea region for wheat have been finding it hard ​to secure supplies. Global wheat prices have soared.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot told the Security ​Council that ⁠France backed moratoriums on attacks against energy infrastructure and in the Black Sea as a first step toward de-escalation.

Ahead of the Lavrov-Rubio meeting, the Kremlin said there were no grounds for wider Ukraine peace talks, while saying it remained open to such ⁠talks.

“For now, ​there are no prerequisites for moving on to a peaceful negotiating ​track, although we, as the Russian side, remain open to peace talks,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

Zelenskiy said on Tuesday that he would be ​ready to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin at a trilateral meeting with Trump.

Rubio slams international order, says US will always act in its national interest

Meanwhile, Rubio criticised the current international system as “failing” and asserted that Washington would consistently prioritise its national interests over the international order.

Addressing journalists on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, Rubio argued that multilateral bodies had lost their core purpose and failed to resolve major global flashpoints.

“The international system is not in good shape right now, and these international norms people talk about,” Rubio said. “At the end of the day, the president (Donald Trump) and I reflected this going back to the very beginning. The view of this administration is that the number one obligation of every government is the national interest of their country.”

Rubio pointed out that world leaders increasingly shared a consensus that global institutions were no longer working as intended. “Multiple leaders pointed to the fact that the international system is failing, and it’s failing because it has grown beyond its mandate,” he said.

“It has grown beyond its intent. It’s involved in all kinds of things it shouldn’t be involved in, and it’s unable to solve virtually any major conflict in the world.”

Highlighting ongoing global tensions, Rubio questioned the efficacy of global institutions in managing disputes such as clashes between Thailand and Cambodia, tensions between India and Pakistan, conflicts in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda, and maritime friction in the Strait of Hormuz involving Iran.

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In the absence of a functional system, nation-states must look out for their own security, Rubio said, emphasising the administration’s foreign policy approach.

“At the end of the day, the United States will always act. At least as long as President Trump is in office, we will always act in the national interest of our country, not in the interest of the international order,” he stressed. “We will never put the international order above the interest of the United States.”