Rubio discusses war in Ukraine with European counterparts

WASHINGTON, Aug 25 (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke with his European counterparts on Monday and discussed diplomatic efforts to bring an end to the war in Ukraine, the State Department said.

Rubio spoke to UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen and EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas among others, a spokesperson for the State Department said in a statement.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said that Ukraine was grateful to Rubio for his efforts and to U.S. President Donald Trump for his "peacemaking leadership". He added that security guarantees for Ukraine were key.

"I reiterated Ukraine’s position that security guarantees must be concrete, legally binding, and effective. They should be multidimensional, including military, diplomatic, legal, and other levels," Sybiha said on X.

"We all share the conviction that the Ukrainian army is the fundamental level of any such guarantees, therefore its maximum strengthening is our top priority."

Trump, after his separate summits with Russian President Vladimir Putin and later with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and European leaders, has asked Rubio to lead talks on providing Ukraine with security guarantees.