ANKARA (AA) - US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that his country is going through a critical period in terms of reaching a nuclear agreement with Iran.

“So we are at a – this is a critical moment. The President Trump has made it a priority,” Rubio said in an interview with Sean Hannity of American news channel Fox News on Thursday.

“We have to roll that back one way or another, and we hope it’s peacefully and through the process of negotiation,” Rubio told Fox News.

“What the President did is extend an opportunity. And that’s the opportunity before them, and he hopes that they’ll take this opportunity and that they’ll take this offer. He says this offer won’t be around forever,” Rubio said.

“A regime like that can never have nuclear weapons, and the President has made clear they will not have a nuclear weapon,” he noted.

Rubio expressed hope that the issue would be resolved through the path of negotiation and diplomacy.

“But in the end the decision lies in the hands of one person, and that’s the supreme leader in Iran,” Rubio said.

Rubio voiced his hope that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei would choose “the path of peace and prosperity, not a destructive path.”

- Ukraine peace depends on direct Trump-Putin talks: Rubio

Rubio underlined that peace in Ukraine depends on Trump making direct contact with Putin.

“After months of working on this, nothing is going to happen until President Trump sits across the table from Vladimir Putin and puts it on the line and puts it on the table,” Rubio said.

“If it has a chance to happen, the only way it happens is the President directly engages with Vladimir Putin,” Rubio stressed.

- ‘NATO members to increase defense spending to 5%

Speaking about the prospects of increased defense spending among NATO members, Rubio said: “I can tell you that we are headed for a summit in six weeks in which virtually every member of NATO will be at or above 2%, but more importantly, many of them will be over 4% and all will have agreed on a goal of reaching 5% over the next decade.”

“It’ll be the first time ever in NATO history where they have reached targets and goals that will allow NATO partners to be more than 50% of the alliance,” he said.

Underlining that the issue was discussed Thursday at the informal NATO foreign ministers meeting in Türkiye’s southern Antalya province, Rubio said: “That’s what was agreed upon today (Thursday) by the foreign ministers.”

“That’s a historic moment if it comes to fruition,” he said.

Rubio’s remarks to Fox News were made while he was in Antalya for the informal NATO foreign ministers meeting.