EU wants to organize 1st meeting between US state secretary and Ukrainian foreign minister

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha have both been invited to a planned Feb. 12 meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels. The invites were confirmed to POLITICO by two Ukrainian diplomatic officials, granted anonymity to speak on the sensitive matter.

Ukraine has had no official contact with the new U.S. administration of President Donald Trump, so the ministerial meeting could be the first such encounter — if Rubio shows up, that is.

POLITICO asked the U.S. State Department if Rubio planned to attend the Feb. 12 Brussels meeting, but did not immediately receive a response.

Kyiv’s representatives are eager to meet with their U.S. counterparts to discuss the Trump administration’s plans to end Russia’s war against Ukraine. U.S. officials have made a series of public statements on how the new administration wants to end the war, but so far have not contacted Kyiv via diplomatic channels.

The U.S. president repeatedly boasted about how quickly he would end Russia’s full-scale invasion after coming to power, while officials in Kyiv have urged that any peace deal should secure favorable terms for Ukraine.