During a State Department press briefing on Thursday, spokesperson Tammy Bruce was asked about negotiations between Russia and Ukraine to broker a ceasefire.
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00:00MS NAUERT- Yes.
00:01All right.
00:02We'll go to Russia-Ukraine.
00:03Yes.
00:04All right.
00:05Obviously, the Secretary connected with his counterpart in Russia yesterday.
00:07In their call, did Mr. Lavrov give Secretary Rubio any indication of whether and when this
00:13peace memorandum that Russia promised would materialize?
00:17President Zelensky is saying nobody has seen it, and Secretary Rubio has said it's an
00:21important indicator of how serious Russia is about continuing negotiations.
00:24I'm wondering if you have an update.
00:25MS NAUERT- Yes.
00:26We've said multiple times that we're going to judge Russia based not on what they say,
00:32but on what they do.
00:33And right now, what's happening is not good, right?
00:35You've heard that from the President.
00:37What I can tell you is Secretary of State Marco Rubio, in fact, did speak with Russian Foreign
00:41Minister Lavrov.
00:43Secretary Rubio welcomed, as we all did, the exchange of 1,000 for 1,000 prisoners, which
00:49happened over the weekend.
00:51That was arranged, I believe, while we were in Istanbul – yeah, Turkey.
00:56The Secretary reiterated President Trump's calls for constructive good-faith dialogue
01:01with Ukraine as the only path forward ending the war.
01:06So that's what we're saying about the call itself, and we'll have to kind of leave
01:11that there.
01:12On the question of the good-faith dialogue, does the Secretary
01:15believe that what the Russians have offered in terms of these direct talks with the Ukrainians
01:19in Istanbul?
01:20Is that being offered in good faith?
01:21We understand it's the same delegation that was dispatched last time.
01:25Is this actually going to move the ball forward, or is it a rehash?
01:27Right.
01:28Well, that is – that's kind of, I think, at the heart of the current diplomatic dialogues
01:32and negotiations.
01:34And I won't characterize the Secretary's point of view or his approach.
01:40I think what he reiterated after this call I think speaks for itself, that he reiterated
01:47President Trump's calls for constructive good-faith dialogue as the only way to end
01:51the war.
01:52So that – that was repeated in that call, and I think that speaks to the Secretary's
01:58position.
01:59All right.
02:00Yes, sir.
02:01Go ahead.
02:02Just a follow-up on that.