Rubio says work under way to resolve 'very difficult' Donetsk issue in Ukraine peace talks

There is active work under way to reconcile the territorial issue of Donetsk at U.S.-mediated talks to end Russia's war in ‌Ukraine, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Wednesday, describing the disagreement as a key remaining issue that is "very difficult" to resolve. It's still a gap, but at least we've been able to narrow down the issue set to one central one, and it will probably be a very difficult one," Rubio told a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing. The top U.S. diplomat said there might be a U.S. presence in the follow-up Ukraine talks, but President Donald Trump's top envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, who had taken part in the previous round of talks last weekend in Abu Dhabi, will not be participating.