Rubio Calls For 'Bold Diplomacy' To End Ukraine War

Marco Rubio, President-elect Donald Trump's choice to be secretary of state, said Wednesday that the next US administration would seek "bold diplomacy" with a goal of ending Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

"This war has to end, and I think it should be the official policy of the United States that we want to see it end," Rubio said at his confirmation hearing in the Senate.

"This is not going to be an easy endeavor," he said, "but it's going to require bold diplomacy."

"It is important for everyone to be realistic. There will have to be concessions made by the Russian Federation, but also by the Ukrainians," he said.

Trump has previously vowed to end the war within a day, with his aides speaking of leveraging US assistance to Ukraine to force it into territorial concessions.

Rubio, a onetime political opponent of Trump, is a three-term senator who has robustly supported both Ukraine and NATO, the transatlantic alliance forged in the Cold War.

Trump in his first term repeatedly described NATO as a bad deal for the United States, accusing European nations who are US economic competitors of freeloading.

Rubio distanced himself from calls to exit NATO but said: "What's important for the United States is not just to have defense allies, it's to have capable defense allies."

"I think there is a question to be asked -- I'm not stating a public policy position, I'm stating a question to be asked.

"And that is, should the role of the United States and NATO in the 21st century be the primary defense role, or as a backstop to aggression, with countries in the region assuming more of that responsibility by contributing more?"