'You cannot end a war unless both sides come to the table': US secretary of state

ISTANBUL

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Sunday that the Ukraine war cannot be resolved unless both parties engage in talks, starting with the Russian side.

"We are trying to end a war. You cannot end a war unless both sides come to the table, starting with the Russians," Rubio said in an interview with ABC News' This Week program.

"I'm not promising you it's possible. I'm not telling you it's 90% likely. I'm saying it's 0% likely if we don't get them to a negotiating table," he added.

He also defended US President Donald Trump’s approach to bringing Russia to the negotiating table.

"We have to bring [Russia] to the table. You're not going to bring them to the table if you're calling them names, if you're being antagonistic. That's just the president's instincts from years and years and years of putting together deals," Rubio said.

Rubio said he had not been in contact with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy following the meeting between Trump and Zelenskyy, which turned into a heated argument at the White House on Friday.

Trump would be "on his way to the Nobel Peace Prize" if he were a Democrat, Rubio said.

"If this was a Democrat that was doing this, everyone would be saying, ‘Well, he’s on his way to the Nobel Peace Prize."

"This is absurd."

Asked why Trump felt it was appropriate to call Zelenskyy a dictator, as he has several times in recent weeks, Rubio responded: "Listen, we've spent three years calling Vladimir Putin names. That's not the point now."

"The point that we're at now is we're trying to get the man to a table," Rubio said.