Marco Rubio

Michelle Kellerman, NPR News, the State Department.

We have very strong partnerships with the U.K.

and other countries.

Again, nothing has changed or happened that has impeded in any way our ability to do what we're doing, nor are we asking anyone to help us with what we're doing in any realm, and that includes military.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio says over the past couple of days he's heard a lot of concerns about the paramilitary force known as the RSF, which is carrying out sexual violence and other atrocities in areas they control in Sudan.

He says countries need to stop arming the RSF, though he didn't specifically single out the United Arab Emirates.

He says the UAE is part of a diplomatic group called the Quad, and the U.S.

is working with everyone there to pressure the RSF to stop.

Michelle Kellerman, NPR News, the State Department.

I mean, look, if it was a political stunt, it was a very stupid political stunt, and I personally take some insult to it.

The West Bank is not going to be annexed by Israel.

We understand there's more work to be done, but we feel very positive about the trajectory it's on, even though we are well aware that there are going to be some real tests ahead.

And we will know very quickly whether Hamas is serious or not by how these technical talks go in terms of the logistics.

Now, we need to work through the logistics of how that's going to happen.

I mean, again, that sounds simplistic, but it's not just about you got to make sure that there's no fighting going on.

You have to make sure the Red Cross can get there, what time they're going to be there, where they're going to be.

All of that has to be worked through.

And that's not easy in the middle of an active war zone.

That has to be de-escalated.

And that's exactly what they're meeting about right now.