Rubio: the war in Ukraine “is about Donbas” and will end only through diplomacy, as he says Pakistan ties do not cost India

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in an interview recorded in Mumbai on 22 October that the war in Ukraine “is about Donbas” and can end only through diplomacy, according to the transcript published by the U.S. State Department. He spoke to Raj Chengappa of India Today, alongside U.S. Ambassador to India Sergio Gor, at the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel.

Rubio on the war: “only going to end diplomatically”

Chengappa put it to Rubio that President Vladimir Putin had said the day before that Russia was willing to take part in a three-way meeting with the United States and Ukraine. Rubio did not address that offer directly. He said the conflict “is about Donbas”, which in his account means a single region that Russia wants and, in his assessment, cannot take militarily, while Ukraine is unwilling to give it up for reasons of sovereignty and long-term security. Those are Rubio’s own characterisations; neither Moscow nor Kyiv endorsed them in the transcript.

“This war is not going to be solved militarily. This war is only going to end diplomatically,” he said. Both sides would have to make concessions, he added, and Washington is “happy to play the mediating role”. Getting the parties into one room would not by itself solve the problem, Rubio said, but without it there is no chance of a settlement. The latest diplomatic step on the ground is covered in White House says Russia and Ukraine agreed a localized ceasefire in Oleshky from 29 October, brokered by Melania Trump.

Pakistan, India and the Quad

Asked what Washington is doing to reassure India that its closer ties with Pakistan will not weaken the fight against terrorism, Rubio said the United States needs relations with as many countries as possible. “In no way does the relationship with Pakistan come at the expense of our relationship with India,” he said. He added that the two countries share concerns about terrorism.

On the Quad, Rubio said there have been more foreign-minister-level meetings in the last year and a half than in the previous four years combined, and that a leaders’ meeting is expected “probably in December at some point”. Ambassador Gor said India’s foreign minister, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, and the Australian and Japanese counterparts would be at the G20 in Atlanta the following week, and that work was under way toward a meeting between President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi within a month. Rubio named maritime awareness, including the monitoring of undersea cables, as one area where the Quad is producing results.

Energy and the trade deal

Asked about the U.S. decision to buy Russian diesel and to waive sanctions on Indian purchases of Russian crude, Rubio said all foreign policy has to be balanced and pointing to the effect of the war in Ukraine, the Strait of Hormuz and “increasingly the Red Sea” on the global economy. President Trump, he said, chose to “allow there to be additional energy flows into the global marketplace” for “some short period of time”. He argued that India was already diversifying its suppliers and could buy more U.S., Venezuelan and other Western Hemisphere crude.

On the interim trade agreement, he declined to give details but said “we’re very close” and that he could foresee nothing that would prevent a deal. Our earlier reports covered his remarks on the timetable in Rubio in Mumbai: U.S.-India trade deal “incredibly close”, possible in “weeks, not months” and on Ukraine support in Rubio in Mumbai: U.S. aid and intelligence for Ukraine unchanged, interceptors are scarce worldwide.

Rubio also said U.S. visa and immigration changes affecting Indian professionals “are not aimed at India” and apply to every country. Asked about 2028, he said he was not discussing it.