Rubio says Ukraine conflict is part of US-Russia proxy war

Secretary of State Marco Rubio in a Wednesday interview described the war in Ukraine as a proxy war between the United States and Russia, as he sought to explain on the Oval Office blow-up last week between Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky, President Trump and Vice President Vance.

“I think an important thing to understand about last Friday is not last Friday. It’s everything that led up to it," Rubio said during an interview on Fox News’s “Hannity.”

"It’s been very clear from the beginning that President Trump views this as a protracted, stalemated conflict,” Rubio said. “And frankly, it’s a proxy war between nuclear powers, the United States helping Ukraine, and Russia.”

Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, nearly a decade after it occupied and annexed Crimea, then a region of Ukraine.

The U.S. under the Biden administration, along with traditional allies in Western Europe and around the world, backed Ukraine after the invasion.

Describing the fighting between Russia and Ukraine as a proxy war meshes with a Russian narrative of why the war started. Russia argues that Ukraine's efforts to join NATO, coupled with the western military alliance's encroachment on Russia, triggered the fighting.

After the end of the Cold War, NATO extended to include many countries in Eastern Europe and the Baltic states, which at one time were under Soviet control. NATO has added Sweden and Finland as members since the Russia-Ukraine war began, after those two countries decided it was in their interest to join the alliance given what they saw as Russia's aggression toward Ukraine.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Russia agreed with Rubio and said they have agreed several times that the war is a conflict between Russia and the U.S.-led West, Reuters reported.

Trump in the past few weeks has accused Ukraine of starting the war and blamed Zelensky and the Biden administration for its continuation. He also cut off aid to Ukraine on Monday, which has led European countries to look for ways to build up their support for Kyiv.

Ukraine this week has sought to mend fences with Trump, signaling it could agree to a deal that would share some of its mineral wealth with the U.S. as a repayment for U.S. support.

Rubio slammed Ukraine during the interview on "Hannity," arguing that it has no plan besides asking allied countries for more aid “for as long as it takes.”

He reiterated his point that the European conflict is stalemated.

One of Zelensky’s top aides said there would be another meeting between the two leaders in the “near future” to further discuss peace talks.

Rubio said he was glad that it appeared another talk was coming because he believes the conflict needs to end.

“It’s going to require concessions from both sides, but we have to get them both to the table,” he said.