Marco Rubio on the rise as he wages ‘Godfather’ diplomacy for peace in Ukraine despite ‘gift to the Russians’

Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s approval rating rose in a Daily Mail poll in late December, making him President Donald Trump’s most popular Cabinet member.

Overall, the former Florida senator had a net rating of +6; 39 percent said they approve of the job Rubio is doing, while 33 percent disapprove.

A Daily Mail poll conducted by JL Partners found Attorney-General Pam Bondi to be the least popular Cabinet member, but even her figures were barely under water, coming in with a net negative rating.

Rubio’s net approval number was the highest all year, as he had only previously reached plus-3 in late April.

Ahead of the poll, which was conducted on December 20 and 21, Rubio was quoted as saying he would stay out of Vice President J.D. Vance’s way if the vice president decides to run for the White House in 2028, reducing the likelihood of a high-profile MAGA showdown.

‘If JD Vance runs for president, he will be our candidate’ Rubio told Vanity Fair. ‘And I’ll be one of the first people to support it.’

Although Trump has suggested that Vance and Rubio are a dynamic duo, he has not officially endorsed Vance for the 2028 Republican nomination.

After the voting ended, Rubio was portrayed as the more experienced party in the Russia-Ukraine negotiations. As reported by NBC News on December 22 He said there were some clashes between Rubio and Trump’s Special Envoy Steve Witkoff.

The report also details some of the security breaches that occurred because Witkoff used his personal plane to travel around to negotiate peace deals on Trump’s behalf.

The official statement from the Foreign Office was that the two men had a ‘close working relationship’ and were ‘personal friends’; but sources said Witkoff did things like schedule a meeting with the French president without initially inviting Rubio.

It is almost an unheard of scenario for a businessman with no foreign policy experience to have a one-on-one meeting with a head of state through the United States’ top diplomat.

Rubio was eventually included in the meeting, and a State Department spokesman told NBC: ‘Any insinuation that Special Envoy Witkoff prevented the Secretary from attending a meeting in Paris is absurd.’

Witkoff and Rubio also have different views on ending the war in Ukraine; Rubio’s support for the USA causes Russia to experience economic difficulties and the Kremlin to sit at the negotiation table.

Witkoff has been criticized for being too light on Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“He’s a gift to the Russians,” one congressional official told NBC about Witkoff.

The New York Times also explained in detail Rubio’s role in trying to settle the dispute in a story published Tuesday.

After the voting ended, NBC reported that there was some conflict between Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff (pictured), who was trying to end the war in Ukraine.

In March, Rubio asked members of the Ukrainian delegation to draw on a map the borders where they could live.

‘I want to know what your absolute results are; ‘What do you need to survive as a country?’ The Minister of Foreign Affairs said.

One American called it a groundbreaking moment and said it was ‘the first time it’s happened’. [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelensky, through his people, said that I am ready to give up 20 percent of my country to achieve peace.’

Rubio told Ukrainian officials that if Russian President Vladimir Putin does not agree to the limits or other parts of the agreement, including that Ukraine cannot be a NATO country but can join the European Union, ‘then there is a Donald Trump problem.’

The Times said Rubio channeled the classic American film The Godfather when he first met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Putin aide Yuri Ushakov.

He recalled the scene where Vito Corleone tells his son: ‘I spend my life trying not to be careless. Women and children may be careless, but not men.’

Rubio told the Russians that as nuclear powers, the United States and Russia must communicate.

Lavrov reportedly smiled.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is photographed shaking hands with Foreign Minister Marco Rubio (right) during their meeting in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in February.

But an incident in September showed how difficult it was for the United States to negotiate with the Russians, when Lavrov told Rubio that he believed Trump had made a commitment to Putin at the Alaska meeting to force Zelensky to give up large parts of the Donetsk region.

Lavrov sent a letter to Rubio demanding that Trump publicly acknowledge this.

U.S. officials told the Times that although Trump reacted positively to Putin’s proposal to end the war in Donetsk, the president made no such commitment.

On top of that, US officials were told that Putin did not allow such a letter and that this was Lavrov’s power play.

In the midst of this drama, Trump finally gave the green light to impose more sanctions on Russia.

A Daily Mail poll in December found that voters were most negative about the idea of ​​Ukraine having to give up territory not currently held by Russia as part of a deal to end the war.

They were not keen on the idea of ​​the United States lifting sanctions on Russia as part of a peace agreement; 32 percent found it acceptable and 33 percent found it unacceptable.

The poll consisted of 1,000 registered voters online and was conducted between December 20 and 21. The poll’s margin of error was plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.

In his New Year’s speech, Zelensky said Ukraine was only ’10 percent away’ from a peace agreement.

However, the Ukrainian president also insisted in his 20-minute speech that he would not sign a “weak” agreement at any cost.

Mr Zelensky added that the final part of the agreement would ‘determine the fate of peace, the fate of Ukraine and Europe’ and ‘save millions of lives’.

And Zelensky’s continued reservations about the transfer of regions in eastern Ukraine to Russia, he warned, would embolden Vladimir Putin.

He said: ‘We want the end of the war, not the end of Ukraine. Will Russia be able to end the war? Yes. Does he want to? No. Can the world force it to do this? Yes, and that’s the only way it will work.

‘Signing weak agreements only fuels war. ‘Either the world stops Russia’s war, or Russia drags the world into its own war.’

Ukraine is expected to continue negotiations with US and European officials tomorrow, while the UK-led Coalition of Volunteers is expected to meet on Sunday.

Mr. Zelensky is trying to get stronger security guarantees from the United States as part of a negotiated peace deal. This came after Western intelligence sources rejected Kremlin claims that Ukraine had carried out a drone attack on Putin’s Black Sea hideout.