President Donald Trump will move away from efforts to negotiate a Russia-Ukraine The peace agreement in a few days unless there are clear signs that an agreement can be concluded, US Secretary of State said on Friday.
“We are not going to continue with this company for weeks and months. So we must determine very quickly now, and I speak of a few days, whether or not it is in the coming weeks,” Rubio told Paris After meeting European and Ukrainian leaders.
“If it is not possible, if we are so distant that it will not happen, then I think that the president is probably at a point where he will say:” Well, we are finished “.”
Three European diplomatic sources have said that Rubio’s comments, which coincided with signs of progress in American discussions with Ukraine, reflect increasing frustration in the White House on Russian intransigence to end the war.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said progress in a peace regulation had already been established, but that contacts with Washington were difficult. He said Russia tried to resolve the conflict while guaranteeing its own interests. Moscow has remained open to the dialog box with the United States, he added.
Trump said Thursday that he was expecting To sign a mineral agreement with Kyiv next week After a February attempt, collapsed following the oval conflict of the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy with vice-president JD Vance and Trump.
Vance, Speaking in Rome By meeting Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, said he was optimistic, the United States could help put an end to this “very brutal war”.
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The talks in Paris were the first noun, high level and person discussions on Trump’s Peace of Peace which included European powers. Rubio said that an American peace manager he presented had received an “encouraging reception”. The Zelenskiy office qualified constructive and positive talks.
There was no immediate comment from Paris, London, Berlin or kyiv on the Declaration of Rubio, who underlined the frustrations of the White House because of a lack of progress in the thrusts to settle A growing list Geopolitical challenges.
Trump promised during his electoral campaign to end the war in Ukraine in his first 24 hours at the White House. He moderated this complaint on taking office, suggesting an agreement by April or May While obstacles were showing.
He put pressure on both parties to come to the negotiating table, threatening stricter sanctions against Russia or the end of billions of dollars in US military support in kyiv.
Ukraine and Russia showed up for American commercial talks in Saudi Arabia, which led to a partial ceasefire, but nothing more. Meanwhile, war continued, including a recent Russian missile attack This struck Sumy in northeast of Ukraine, killing 35 people – an attack that Trump described as “error”.
If Washington is moving away, the efforts to negotiate peace would probably not make, because no other nation is able to do a pressure similar to Moscow and kyiv.
Other impacts are not clear. The United States could maintain its current policy on the unchanged conflict, maintaining sanctions against Russia and keeping American aid in kyiv. Alternatively, Trump could decide to stop payments in Ukraine.
Rubio said he spoke with the Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sergei Lavrov, after the talks in Paris and informed him of the elements of the American peace framework.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said he wanted Ukraine to lower NATO’s ambitions, permanently in Russia the four regions it has lost and limits the size of its army. Kyiv says these requests are equivalent to demanding its capitulation.
Drop European sanctions?
Rubio said Europeans had a central role to play in any peace pact, especially since their sanctions against Russia should probably be lifted to obtain an agreement.
He said that the question of American security guarantees appeared in the Paris talks, saying that it was a problem “that we can solve in an acceptable way for everyone”. But, “he warned:” We have greater challenges that we must understand. “
He said it was clear that a peace agreement would be difficult to conclude, but there should be signs that it could be done soon.
“We must understand here now, in a few days, that it is doable in the short term, because if it is not, then I think we are just going to move on,” said Rubio.