US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has played down expectations of a rapid end to the war in Ukraine, saying after the Group of 20 foreign ministers met in Atlanta on Saturday that no one involved claims a settlement is close. Rubio said he did not know whether a negotiated peace was achievable, while insisting Washington would keep trying. He argued talking to Moscow was a practical necessity, not an endorsement.

His remarks came after Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov took part in the two-day Atlanta gathering, drawing objections from some European and Canadian ministers. Rubio said he had spoken briefly with Lavrov on the sidelines, not in a formal meeting, and that Russia had not confirmed whether President Vladimir Putin would attend the December leaders summit in Florida. Ukraine was not represented because it is not a G20 member.

A limited Black Sea deal, not a full peace

Rubio also pointed to growing interest in a limited ceasefire in the Black Sea that would protect grain and energy shipments, saying the United States was reviewing proposals from Turkey and India. Such a partial deal would not end the war but would solve one distinct aspect of it, at a time when attacks on shipping and energy infrastructure are threatening food security and raising the risk of wider escalation.

Canada has been engaged in detailed talks about a Black Sea ceasefire since the United Nations General Assembly in September, with a particular focus on protecting food supply chains before winter, Anand said. Meanwhile Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Istanbul on Saturday, where the two leaders discussed safe navigation in the Black Sea and Turkey's support for Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity. The two tracks, a doubtful full settlement and a possible limited sea deal, frame the diplomacy going into November's planned trilateral talks.