By South China Morning Post | Created at 2025-03-03 19:26:19 | Updated at 2025-03-04 00:04:40
4 hours ago
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio discussed Russia’s war in Ukraine with Czech foreign minister Jan Lipavsky on Monday as Washington and Europe seek to regroup following US President Donald Trump’s clash with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky last week.
The two officials discussed US-Czech relations “including our support of peace and stability, increasing defence spending for Nato, and buying US technology to help meet Czechia’s energy needs”, US State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said in a statement after their call.
Rubio also “emphasised President Trump’s determination to bring a durable end to the Russia-Ukraine war”, she added. Trump on Monday signalled that his patience was running out as European leaders floated a potential ceasefire.
Lipavsky, in a post on social media, said separately that working with the US on a just and lasting peace for Ukraine remains a priority for the Czech government.
“We discussed mutually beneficial transatlantic cooperation including Europe significantly stepping up its burden sharing,” he said.
Following a meeting of European leaders in London to discuss a peace plan for Ukraine, Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala said on Sunday his ministers would discuss increasing defence spending. “The goal for all of us is a just peace, a peace that holds,” Fiala said before heading to London.
