Ukraine's top diplomat says he met with US secretary of state to 'coordinate positions'

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said Wednesday that he met with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Türkiye's Antalya province to "coordinate positions during this critical week."

"We discussed in detail the logic of further steps and shared our approaches," Sybiha said on X.

Sharing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's vision of further peace efforts with Rubio, Sybiha said he also reaffirmed Ukraine's "strong and consistent" commitment to President Donald Trump's peace efforts and thanked the US for its involvement.

"We are ready to advance our cooperation in a constructive and mutually beneficial manner. It is critical that Russia reciprocate Ukraine's constructive steps.

"So far, it has not. Moscow must understand that rejecting peace comes at a cost," he added.

The meeting came on the sidelines of an informal meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Antalya.

Türkiye is set to take center stage in global diplomacy this Thursday as it prepares to host the first direct peace talks between Russia and Ukraine in over three years.

The meeting, which would be the first direct negotiations between the two countries since the last round held in Istanbul in March 2022, comes after years of intense fighting, military escalations and major diplomatic events that have reshaped both regional and international politics.