Ukraine's ability to carry out drone strikes against Russia's oil infrastructure could prompt Moscow to end the war against its neighbor, US secretary of state Marco Rubio said on Wednesday.
"The Russians are finding it more difficult to defend their own airspace," Rubio said during a meeting between US president Donald Trump and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Ankara, Turkey. "What we hope that means is, that's going to create the space now to negotiate the end of this war."
Trump added that "it's an escalation, but it's also an escalation that can help lead to an end" to the war.
Ukrainian drone attacks on refineries in Russia, some located thousands of kilometers from the Russian-Ukrainian border, have caused widespread motor fuel shortages in Russia. Moscow on Wednesday banned diesel exports, adding to restrictions on exports of gasoline and jet fuel. Russia has responded to the Ukrainian attacks by scaling up bombardment of major urban areas in Ukraine.
The latest meeting between the US and Ukrainian leaders, on the sidelines of a Nato summit, highlighted a marked improvement in relations since their encounter in the Oval Office in February 2025, which ended with Trump and his key aides chiding Zelenskiy for allegedly being ungrateful for US assistance.
"We've actually developed a very good relationship from the Oval Office to now," Trump said on Wednesday. "It's hard to believe, right?"
Trump and Zelenskiy on Wednesday announced defense co-operation deals, which would involve transfer of Ukrainian drone manufacturing know-how to US companies and an authorization for Ukraine to produce US Patriot air defense systems.
Trump has also scaled down demands for Kyiv to agree to a peace agreement with Russia along the lines he discussed with Russian president Vladimir Putin in Anchorage, Alaska, last year. The terms of the deal were never made public but previous comments by Trump suggest he wanted Kyiv to accept Russia's territorial gains in exchange for a ceasefire.
Trump on Wednesday still said that he believed that Putin "wants to see a settlement" and that "we've made a lot of progress in the last couple of weeks" on a possible Russia-Ukraine deal. Putin and Trump had a lengthy phone conversation on 4 July, which the Kremlin described as constructive.
"I'm sure that you will do everything to solve this war," Zelenskiy said. Asked by Trump if he would consider going to Moscow to meet with Putin, as the Russian president has suggested, Zelenskiy said, "It's difficult, right? Lots of Ukrainian drones there."
The Trump administration allowed a general sanctions waiver for Russian seaborne oil sales to lapse last month without renewing it. The US administration issued the waiver in March, during the Iran war, and said it would renew it only if oil prices remain elevated.
US sanctions enforcers recently extended an authorization for Russia's Lukoil to negotiate the sale of its international assets, until 25 July. The US imposed sanctions on Lukoil from 21 November, forcing the company to try to spin off Lukoil International.
