'What's happening with China is more important' to world's future: Rubio

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that "what's happening with China is more important" to the world.

"Not that a war in Ukraine is not important, but I would say what's happening with China is more important in the long term for the future of the world,” Rubio told Fox News on Thursday.

Stressing that the US will continue to work to end the war, Rubio added: "But there does come a point where the (US) President (Donald Trump) has to decide how much more time at the highest levels of our government do you dedicate it, when maybe one of the two sides or both aren't really close enough when we've got so many – I would argue even more important issues going on around the world."

Stating that the Russia-Ukraine war does not have a military solution, he stated: "In essence, (Russian President Vladimir) Putin can't take all of Ukraine; Ukraine can't push the Russians all the way back to where they were in 2014."

Arguing that Trump is the "only leader" who can persuade Moscow and Kyiv to reach an agreement, Rubio said rebuilding Ukraine will cost "hundreds of billions of dollars."

Emphasizing that Washington has invested heavily in the war, he argued that the mineral deal between the US and Ukraine is beneficial for both countries.

- Iran's nuclear program

Rubio said Iran should import enriched uranium for a peaceful "civilian nuclear" program.

Noting that the only nations that enrich uranium are those that already possess nuclear weapons, he added that Iran is "claiming they don't want a weapon, but they would be -- what they're basically asking is to be the only non-weapon country in the world that's enriching uranium.

"And the level at which they enrich it is really not relevant per se because, really, if you have the ability to enrich at 3.67%, it only takes a few weeks to get to 20% and then 60% and then the 80 and 90% that you need for a weapon," he said. "What cannot happen is to live in a world where Iran has a nuclear weapon.”

Rubio also said Tehran must stop "sponsoring terrorists, helping the Houthis" in Yemen, and "building long-range missiles that have no purpose to exist other than having nuclear weapons."

He noted that Iran has “to walk away from enrichment."

"It's been known and discovered that in the past Iran has had a secret nuclear program that it did not disclose to the world," Rubio added.

Rubio reiterated that Iran must agree to oversight, including inspections by US inspectors to produce peaceful nuclear energy.

- Trade wars with China

Rubio said China's economic practices toward the US are also harming its own economy.

"When they say that the containers, that the factories are not going to be sending things to America, that means they're out of a job. This is hurting the Chinese economy badly," he noted.

Saying that China wants to have a meeting with the US as part of a short-term agreement, Rubio said US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is working on the issue and talks will soon be on the agenda.

"We were far too dependent on China. We allowed them through unfair trade practices to de-industrialize us and to use not just tariffs but non-tariff barriers, currency manipulation, dumping," he stated.

That left the US "de-industrialized as a country and heavily dependent on them," the secretary highlighted, adding that Trump is taking necessary steps on the issue.

"Two more years in this direction and we are going to be in a lot of trouble, really dependent on China. So, I do think there's this broader question about how much we should buy from them at all moving forward," Rubio added.