ISTANBUL 

President Donald Trump is “the only global leader right now” who can end the Russia-Ukraine conflict, but a possible meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin will depend on progress in ending the war, according to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

In an interview posted online early Friday, Rubio said Trump wants to end the war with Ukraine and wants to test Russia’s commitment to this.

The US must have “some communication” with Russia on this, and the only way to assess this is through direct engagement with Russia, he told independent journalist Catherine Herridge.

A Trump-Putin meeting will not happen until “we know what the meeting is going to be about,” he said.

The timing of a meeting depends on progress in ending the war in Ukraine, he said.

“You don’t generally have these meetings until you know some outcome, or some progress has been made,” he added.

If progress is made and the meeting seals the deal, Rubio said “everybody should celebrate that President Trump is a peacemaker,” adding that Trump is “the only global leader right now that can make this happen.

Trump 'rightfully' upset at Zelenskyy

Following Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr trading barbs this week, Rubio backed Trump, saying: “I think President Trump is very upset at President Zelenskyy, and rightfully so.”

Rubio in particular said Zelenskyy’s claim that Trump is “living in a world of disinformation” is counterproductive.

“It’s not that we don’t care about Ukraine, but Ukraine is on another continent,” he said. “It doesn’t directly impact the daily lives of Americans. We care about it because it has implications for our allies and ultimately for the world. There should be some level of gratitude here about this, and when you don’t see it and you see him out there accusing the president of living in a world of disinformation, that’s highly, very counterproductive,”

He also accused Zelenskyy of mischaracterizing a discussion they had on Trump’s proposal that the US should get a share of Ukraine’s mineral wealth in exchange for its support.

“We discussed this issue about the mineral rights, and we explained to them, look, we want to be in a joint venture with you – not because we’re trying to steal from your country, but because we think that’s actually a security guarantee,” said Rubio.

“If we’re your partner in an important economic endeavor, we get to get paid back some of the money the taxpayers have given – close to $200 billion. And ... now we have a vested interest in the security of Ukraine. And he said, sure, we want to do this deal; it makes all the sense in the world – the only thing is I need to run it through my legislative process, they have to approve it.

“I read two days later that Zelenskyy is out there saying: I rejected the deal; I told them no way, that we’re not doing that. Well, that’s not what happened in that meeting.”

Zelenskyy has yet to reply to Rubio's remarks about the meeting.