PARIS — U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio accused Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of lying when Zelenskyy suggested that the United States was conditioning security guarantees for Kyiv on the withdrawal of Ukrainian forces from the Donbas. Rubio made his comments while in Paris.

Zelenskyy had stated, "The Americans are prepared to finalize these [security] guarantees at a high level once Ukraine is ready to withdraw from [the] Donbas." In response, Rubio said, "That's a lie… that's not what he was told."

"Security guarantees are not going to kick in until there's an end to a war… otherwise you're injecting yourself into the war," he said. Rubio said he had told the Ukrainian side what the Russians were insisting on.

Rubio emphasized that the United States was not pressuring Ukraine to make territorial concessions. "We're not advocating for it… it's their choice to make," he said. He reiterated that Washington remains committed to ending Russia's war against Ukraine but announced no new initiatives.

Zelenskyy said a withdrawal would jeopardize the security of Ukraine and Europe by handing strong Ukrainian defensive positions to Russia. "I would very much like the American side to understand that the eastern part of our country is part of our security guarantees," the Ukrainian president said.

Donald Trump has sought to end the war in Ukraine since he took office in January 2025. Moscow and Kyiv remain far apart on control over Ukrainian territory in the Donbas, which includes the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, with Russia showing no readiness for compromise.

Russia occupies Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula and claims Donetsk, Luhansk, and two other regions in mainland Ukraine as its own.