Secretary of State Marco Rubio will head a new commission tasked with shaping security guarantees for Ukraine, a move that underscores President Donald Trump’s push to find a path toward ending the war with Russia that has stretched into its fourth year, The Hill reported.
The commission, announced on Tuesday, will include officials from the U.S., Ukraine, Europe, and NATO, according to an administration official who spoke with NewsNation. Its creation followed a White House meeting on Monday of Trump and seven European leaders who traveled to Washington for talks.
The Wall Street Journal, which first reported Rubio’s appointment, stated that the framework under discussion is made up of four key elements: bolstering air defense, maintaining a military presence, monitoring the cessation of hostilities, and providing armaments.
Rubio, who also serves as Trump’s national security adviser, recently played a direct role in the settlement dialogue with Russia. On Friday, he was one of three U.S. officials who met behind closed doors in Alaska with Russian President Vladimir Putin and his delegation.
The next day, Trump spoke with Putin by phone after his meeting at the White House with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European leaders. Neither Zelenskyy nor the visiting officials were present for the call.
“I didn’t do it in front of them — I thought that would be disrespectful to President Putin. I wouldn’t do that, because they have not had the warmest relations,” Trump told “Fox & Friends” on Tuesday.
That conversation lasted roughly 40 minutes. Trump said he intends to arrange a direct meeting between Putin and Zelenskyy, though Moscow has yet to commit. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov emphasized that the Kremlin is not ruling out talks with Ukraine and noted that Trump has an open invitation to visit Moscow.
The president has emphasized his desire to bring an end to the conflict, which has inflicted heavy losses on both sides since Russia’s invasion more than three years ago. On Tuesday, he suggested the possibility of including U.S. air support as part of security guarantees for Kyiv, while guaranteeing no U.S. ground troops in Ukraine.
“We’re willing to help them with things, especially, probably, if you talk about by air because nobody has stuff we have,” Trump said.
Lavrov, meanwhile, cautioned NATO leaders against deploying more alliance forces to Ukraine as part of any peace deal.
The commission’s work is expected to move quickly, with officials signaling that security guarantees could form the backbone of a broader settlement effort.
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