Ukraine talks 'not about imposing a deal on anybody': Rubio

It's "up to" Ukraine and Russia to make peace, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio stressed on Friday, amid continued concern that the US might be trying to pressure Kyiv into accepting a deal favourable to Russia.

"This is not about imposing a deal on anybody," Rubio told journalists ahead of talks between US and Russian negotiators in Miami this weekend.

"It is about determining what both sides expect and need to have and what both sides are prepared to give in return for it, and figuring out whether we can have those two overlap," the secretary of state asserted.

US officials are also expected to hold talks with a Ukrainian delegation in Miami, while no direct talks between the two warring sides are planned.

Rubio stressed that "there can't be a peace deal" unless both Ukraine and Russia agree to it, but noted that finding a solution to the nearly four-year-old conflict wasn't the administration's top priority.

"It's not our war. It's a war in another continent. We have equities. We have engagement in this war, but it's not our war, per se."