US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said that the dispute over Donbas, which accounts for around 11% of Ukraine’s territory, lies at the heart of the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

Axar.az reports, citing Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty journalist Alex Raufoglu, that Rubio made the remarks when asked about a possible trilateral meeting involving Russia, Ukraine and the United States to discuss ending the war, following Russian President Vladimir Putin’s statement that Moscow was open to such talks.

"I would just say to you that that war - people keep talking about it's a war in Ukraine. That war is about Donbas. It's about one region of the country. It's- at its core, it's about 11 percent of one part of that country that Russia wants and cannot take militarily and that Ukraine is unwilling to give up," Rubio said.

Rubio added that Kyiv has valid reasons for its position, citing Ukraine’s sovereignty and long-term security concerns.

It should be noted that Russia’s Constitution claims not only the Donetsk and Luhansk regions but also the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions, as well as Crimea, as part of Russian territory.