US secretary of state says that it's too soon for US-Russia high-level discussions

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has stated that progress must first be made at the technical level before high-level talks can occur between Moscow and Washington.

Rubio was responding to a question about the potential shift from technical discussions to high-level negotiations during a conversation with journalists on his way to Myanmar.

"Well, I think you have to make more progress on a technical level at this point, but we'll see. We're going to analyse it," he said.

Rubio added that he intends to speak with the team of negotiators who participated in the talks in Saudi Arabia.

"So I need to hear from them directly a little bit more about how it went, and then we'll present that. We'll meet with the team and we'll present that to the President, and then decide on a path of what the next steps are," Rubio said.

The US secretary of state added that Washington is "committed to trying to achieve peace as long as it takes".

"That doesn't mean that I can guarantee you that there's going to be an agreement in a week or a month. I just can't put a timeframe on it because it doesn't depend on us. It depends on the Russians and it depends on the Ukrainians. It also depends on our partners in Europe who have sanctions that will have to be taken into account, I believe, as part of any final deal," Rubio said.

Following the talks in Saudi Arabia on 23-25 March, the US, Russia and Ukraine agreed to "ensure safe navigation, eliminate the use of force and prevent the use of commercial vessels for military purposes in the Black Sea".

However, Russia has since rolled out a list of demands, including the easing of a number of sanctions against its agricultural sector.

US President Donald Trump said Washington would consider Russia's demands regarding a ceasefire in the Black Sea.

The European Commission has stated that ending Moscow's aggression against Ukraine and the withdrawal of Russian troops are key conditions for altering or lifting EU sanctions against Russia.