PoliticsMay 22, 2026 6:38 pm • 2 min readU.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio attends the NATO Foreign Ministers' meeting in Helsingborg, Sweden, on May 22, 2026. (Julia Demaree Nikhinson / POOL / AFP via Getty Images)U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio acknowledged on May 22 that the U.S.-mediated peace talks between Ukraine and Russia have not been "fruitful" and are effectively on pause."If we see an opportunity to pull together talks that are productive, not counterproductive, and that have the chance to be fruitful, we're prepared to play that role," Rubio said after a NATO foreign ministers' meeting in Helsingborg, Sweden."There are no such talks occurring at this time."The comments come as a rare acknowledgment from Washington that the U.S.-led peace talks have effectively stalled, following several rounds of trilateral and bilateral meetings in recent months that failed to reach a breakthrough.Rubio noted that "over the last few months, (we) just sort of sensed that there wasn't a lot of progress being made," adding that the U.S. is ready to return to the table if "dynamics... change."Officials from Kyiv and Moscow have made similar assessments, as both sides remain far apart on the issue of territory, specifically the Donbas region.Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha told journalists on May 22 that the current format of talks has reached its limits and requires a new momentum.Such momentum could take the form of closer involvement by European partners or a high-level meeting between President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin, he added.While some European leaders have floated opening direct talks with Russia to help end the war, they have yet to formulate a unified agenda or choose a common representative.