The next round of talks scheduled for Sunday between Russia and Ukraine to end the war will be held bilaterally, without the participation of American representatives, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said during a hearing Wednesday before the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations.

Russia and Ukraine will continue the talks this week, this time bilaterally, but the attendance of the US is possible, Rubio said.

Also, he stressed that if the US will be in attendance, US Special Envoy Steve and US president's son-in-law Jared Kushner will not participate in these talks. They previously had participated in trilateral consultations with representatives of Ukraine and Russia on January 23 and 24.

The US Secretary of State noted that the talks are currently focused on one main topic: territorial claims to Donetsk. He said they are actively working to see if the positions of the two parties can be agreed on this issue. Rubio added, however, that it is politically difficult for Ukraine to even consider territorial concessions to Russia.