Marco Rubio made the remark after arriving in Samarkand to meet officials from the C5+1 grouping, comprising the US and five Central Asian nations. (EPA Images pic)SAMARKAND: Ukraine and Russia should be focused on ending the war between them, US secretary of state Marco Rubio told reporters on his visit to Uzbekistan on Monday.
Asked about a possible meeting of US President Donald Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping to negotiate an end to the four-year-old Ukraine conflict, Rubio said, "There's been talk of a meeting. I don't know whether it's been finalised, but the president has been clear. He'd like the war in Ukraine and Russia to end."
Rubio landed in Samarkand on Sunday night to meet top officials of the C5+1 grouping that brings together the US and the Muslim-majority post-Soviet states of Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan.
