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President Donald Trump will abandon attempts to negotiate a peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine in a “fact of days” unless he sees clear signs that a agreement is possible, said the first American diplomat.
Marco Rubio, US Secretary of State, said Washington would not continue the Ukraine Speaks “for weeks or months” and would focus on “other priorities” if there was no breakthrough soon.
“If it is not possible, if we are so far away that it will not happen, then I think that the president is at a point where he will say, well, we are finished,” said Rubio.
Trump later told Washington that he believed: “We will get [the conflict] arrested ”. But he echoes Rubio saying: “If for any reason, one of the two parties makes things very difficult, we are just going to say, you are stupid. . . We are just going to take a pass.
The statements follow a day’s meeting in Paris on Thursday organized by Emmanuel Macron, president of France, who was assisted by an American delegation, of which Rubio And the Steve Witkoff Special Envoy, alongside officials of Ukraine, the United Kingdom and Germany.
“We are not going to continue to fly all over the world and we meet after the meeting after the meeting if no progress is made,” said Rubio. The United States wants to understand “in a few days, not weeks”, if a peace is achievable, he said, adding that Trump “felt firmly” that the talks could not drag.
Rubio did not explain what would be the implications for American military support to Ukraine if Trump abandoned efforts to negotiate a peace between Moscow and kyiv. During his presidential campaign, Trump said that he would end the war in the “24 hours”, but after taking office set a 100-day target to his team, a period that ends later this month.
Friday, the Secretary of State also spoke by telephone with the secretary general of NATO, Mark Rutte, saying: “While our nation has committed to helping the war, if a clear path to peace does not emerge soon, the United States will take a step back from efforts to court peace”.
The Paris rally aimed to relaunch the talks that have blocked since Trump re -engaged with the Russian leader Vladimir Putin in February and pressed Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to negotiate a regulation. Kyiv said since it was open to a temporary ceasefire, but Russia has delayed.
Rubio said: “If the two parties are serious, then we want to help, but if that will not happen, then we will simply go to other subjects that are also or not more important for the United States.”
Dmitry Peskov, Kremlin spokesman, said on Friday that there had been “progress” in talks, but that “many difficult discussions are still waiting for us.”
Ukraine said on Thursday that it had signed a preliminary agreement The United States shares its mineral and energy resources, which was a key demand from Trump, which sees it as a means of reimbursing the United States for billions of dollars in military aid.
Such an agreement had been about to be signed in February but was derailed by an argument between Trump and Zelenskyy in the oval office.
Rubio said that talks in Paris were “very positive” and that the involvement of European countries had been constructive.
Another meeting in a similar format will take place next week in London to allow the United States to obtain the Russian contribution and for Ukraine to decide its positions.
A French official said that Thursday’s rally was significant because he began “a new positive process” in peace talks that this time had more involvement in European countries.
The talks were the first high-level talks and in person in the efforts of the United States which directly included the European powers. A British official also said that the discussion seemed important to the United States to reach the same position as Europeans about Putin’s lack of commitment to peace plans.
“The United Kingdom, France and Germany can help us move the ball on this subject and get closer to a resolution,” said Rubio.
Rubio refused to describe the framework that the United States has put on the table at this stage. He added that it was too early to make final decisions on security guarantees, although they were discussed.
Ukraine has grown hard for such guarantees, in particular with regard to its ability to maintain and build a strong army to defend itself, and its European allies have also stressed their importance.
