President Donald Trump’s prowess as a negotiator will help determine if Russian President Vladimir Putin is serious about negotiations to end the war in Ukraine, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Sunday.

Rubio appeared on CBS’ "Face the Nation," where host Margaret Brennan asked if he could trust that potential negotiations with Russia would be forthright considering how Putin "likes to use diplomacy as a cover to distract while he continues to wage war."

"I don't think in geopolitics anyone should trust anyone," Rubio responded. "I think these things have to be verified through actions. I said yesterday that peace is not a noun, it's a verb. It's an action. You have to take concrete steps towards it."

Rubio added that there is "no better negotiator in American politics" than Trump, saying that the president "will know very quickly whether this is a real thing or whether this is an effort to buy time."

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"But I don't want to prejudge that," Rubio said. "I don't want to foreclose the opportunity to end the conflict that's already cost the lives of hundreds of thousands and continues every single day to be increasingly a war of attrition on both sides."

Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine nearly three years ago. The fighting has produced heavy casualties on both sides, becoming Europe’s largest military conflict since World War II. 

Trump had repeatedly said while on the campaign trail that if he was president in 2022, the war would not have broken out — vowing to end it if re-elected.

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Trump spoke to Putin in a phone call on Wednesday, telling reporters that he and Putin would likely meet soon to negotiate a peace deal over Ukraine. Trump later assured Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy he also would have a seat at the table. 

While some officials have indicated that European nations wouldn't be involved in talks, Rubio on Sunday said that should the leaders reach the point of "real negotiations," both Ukraine and Europe would be involved.

"Ultimately, it will reach a point when you are – if it's real negotiations, and we're not there yet – but if that were to happen, Ukraine will have to be involved, because they're the one that were invaded, and the Europeans will have to be involved because they have sanctions on Putin and Russia as well, and they've contributed to this effort."

Rubio emphasized that the phone call between Trump and Putin was only a small step in the process towards opening a negotiation to end the war, and that "we have a long way to go."

"We're just not there yet," he said. "We really aren't, but hopefully we will be, because we'd all like to see this war end."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio defended Vice President JD Vance's speech in Germany slamming Europe's penchant for censorship on Sunday.

Rubio clashed with CBS host Margaret Brennan on "Face the Nation" after she suggested that free speech had been "weaponized" to bring about the Holocaust in Nazi Germany.

Brennan highlighted Vance's speech to the Munich Security Conference in Germany last week, which criticized European allies for adopting a "soviet"-style approach to censorship.

"What did all of this accomplish, other than irritating our allies?" Brennan asked.

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"Why would our allies or anybody be irritated by free speech and by someone giving their opinion? We are, after all, democracies," Rubio said. "The Munich Security Conference is largely a conference of democracies in which one of the things that we cherish and value is the ability to speak freely and provide your opinions. And so, I think if anyone's angry about his words, they don't have to agree with him, but to be angry about it, I think actually makes his point."

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"Well, he was standing in a country where free speech was weaponized to conduct a genocide," Brennan replied. "He met with the head of a political party that has far-right views and some historic ties to extreme groups. The context of that was changing the tone of it. And you know that."

"Well, I have to disagree with you. No - I have, I have to disagree with you," Rubio said as the pair talked over one another. "Free speech was not used to conduct a genocide. The genocide was conducted by an authoritarian Nazi regime that happened to also be genocidal because they hated Jews and they hated minorities and they had a list of people they hated, but primarily the Jews."

He added, "There was no free speech in Nazi Germany. There was none. There was also no opposition in Nazi Germany. They were the sole and only party that governed that country. So that's not an accurate reflection of history."

Rubio went on to reiterate Vance's point that European leaders should be able to continue working with the U.S. and other like-minded nations despite facing criticism, at which point Brennan ended the segment.

The Trump administration’s push for direct negotiations with Russia without Ukraine’s involvement leaves the European allies with no clear role.

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Secretary of State Marco Rubio advanced President Donald Trump's "bold" plan for Gaza during a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday.

Rubio and Netanyahu both highlighted that Iran is the single largest obstacle to peace in the region during a Sunday joint statement. While Netanyahu did not comment on Trump's specific plans for Gaza, Rubio emphasized that the U.S. and Israel cannot return to "tired" strategies that have failed to produce peace in the past.

"The president has also been very bold about his view of what the future for Gaza should be. Not the same tired ideas of the past, but something that's bold and something that, frankly, took courage and vision in order to outline. And it may have shocked and surprised many, but what cannot continue is the same cycle we'll repeat over and over again and wind up in the exact same place," Rubio said.

Netanyahu affirmed that he and Trump share a "common strategy" for Gaza that includes the complete destruction of Hamas as a political and military force. He did not comment specifically on Trump's stated plans to develop Gaza.

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Netanyahu vowed to "open the gates of hell" on Hamas if it did not follow through with releasing every remaining hostage in Gaza.

Rubio and Netanyahu discussed various other threats in the Middle East, including the collapse of Syria's government and the presence of Hezbollah in Lebanon, among other things.

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"The common theme in all these challenges is Iran. It is the single greatest source of instability in the region, behind every terrorist group, behind every act of violence, behind every destabilizing activity, behind everything that threatens peace and stability for the millions of people who call this region home, is Iran," Rubio said.

"There can never be a nuclear Iran, a nuclear Iran that could then hold itself immune from pressure and from action. That can never happen," he added.

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The meeting comes more than a week after Trump raised eyebrows with a call to remove Palestinians from Gaza and develop the area under U.S. ownership. Trump said he remains committed to the plan despite heavy pushback.

"I'm committed to buying and owning Gaza," Trump said. "As far as us rebuilding it, we may give it to other states in the Middle East to build sections of it, other people may do it, through our auspices. But we’re committed to owning it, taking it, and making sure that Hamas doesn’t move back."