On 7 June 2025, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot that direct negotiations between Ukraine and Russia remain essential for ending the war, according to a readout from the US Department of State.

Rubio brings up direct talks in phone call with Barrot

The US State Department reported that Rubio and Barrot spoke about global security developments. According to the official readout,

“Secretary Rubio underscored the importance of continued direct negotiations between Russia and Ukraine to achieve a lasting peace.”

In the same 7 June call, Rubio and Barrot “reaffirmed their shared commitment to preventing Iran from developing or obtaining a nuclear weapon.” They also discussed support for Israel and emphasized the need to free hostages held in Gaza by Hamas. However, the focus on Ukraine again highlighted Washington’s ongoing strategy of promoting negotiations with Russia.

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Diplomatic pressure unchanged despite lack of results

Despite all the diplomatic efforts, Russia continues to demand Kyiv’s de facto capitulation, repeating its initial full-scale invasion objectives from 2022.

Rubio’s message comes days after a 2 June meeting in Istanbul between Ukrainian and Russian low-level representatives, where both sides agreed to a new exchange of prisoners and fallen soldiers.

ISW: Ukraine denies Russian claims on alleged blocking of POW and KIA body exchange

However, Ukraine’s First Deputy Foreign Minister Serhii Kyslytsya said that Russia again rejected an unconditional ceasefire. 

On 25 May, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) reported that Russian President Vladimir Putin is conducting a coordinated campaign of military escalation and psychological warfare aimed at weakening Ukraine and eroding Western support.

ISW wrote that Putin “is leveraging long-range strikes against Ukrainian cities, aggressive rhetorical campaigns, and excessive pessimism in the West about the battlefield situation in Ukraine in a multi-pronged effort to degrade Ukrainian morale and convince the West that a Russian victory in Ukraine is inevitable and that supporting Ukraine is futile.”

Russia attacks Ukraine with 355 drones. Zelenskyy says Moscow escalates attacks to defy global diplomacy

According to ISW, Russia has intensified long-range missile and drone attacks over the last eight months, launching seven of the largest combined strikes of the war since January 2025.

Weaponizing pessimism and pressure

ISW emphasized that the Kremlin is simultaneously saturating the information space with calls for Ukraine to accept concessions on sovereignty and territorial integrity. These demands, however, are not new. ISW notes they are in line with longstanding Russian war aims, and this shows that “Russia’s demands have not changed over the last three years of war.”

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Despite the messaging, ISW points out that the battlefield situation has changed significantly since early 2022. Russia has suffered three years of manpower and equipment losses, weakening its military’s capacity to achieve large-scale offensive success.

On the ground, Russian progress stalls

ISW reports that Russian advances have slowed, with forces relying increasingly on poorly trained and poorly equipped infantry to sustain pressure. Nevertheless, Putin remains committed to masking battlefield realities with a media and missile campaign intended to disrupt international unity and end Western military assistance.

“Putin remains deeply committed to distracting from the realities of the battlefield situation, however, as bringing about the cessation of Western military assistance to Ukraine is Russia’s only real hope of winning this war,” ISW concludes.

Russia’s massive missile and drone assault kills at least 12 civilians, injures 52, between two prisoner swaps