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President Donald Trump will abandon attempts to negotiate a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine within a “matter of days” unless he sees clear signs a deal is possible, the top US diplomat has said.
Marco Rubio, US secretary of state, on Friday said Washington would not pursue the Ukraine talks “for weeks or months” and would focus on “other priorities” if there was not a breakthrough soon.
“If it’s not possible, if we’re so far apart that this is not going to happen, then I think the president is at a point where he is going to say, well, we’re done,” Rubio said.
Trump later said in Washington that he believed “we’re going to get [the conflict] stopped”. But he echoed Rubio in saying, “if for some reason, one of the two parties makes it very difficult, we’re just going to say, you’re foolish . . . we’re going to just take a pass.”
The statements follow a day-long meeting in Paris on Thursday hosted by Emmanuel Macron, president of France, that was attended by a US delegation, including Rubio and special envoy Steve Witkoff, alongside officials from Ukraine, UK and Germany.
“We’re not going to continue to fly all over the world and do meeting after meeting after meeting if no progress is being made,” Rubio said. The US wants to figure out “in a matter of days, not weeks”, if a peace is attainable, he said, adding Trump “felt strongly” that the talks could not drag on.
Rubio did not elaborate on what the implications would be for US military support to Ukraine if Trump abandoned the effort to broker a peace between Moscow and Kyiv. During his presidential campaign Trump said he would end the war within “24 hours” but after taking office set his team a 100-day target, a period that concludes later this month.
The secretary of state also spoke by phone on Friday with Nato secretary-general Mark Rutte, saying, “while our nation has been committed to helping end the war, if a clear path to peace does not emerge soon, the United States will step back from efforts to broker peace”.
The Paris gathering aimed to jump-start talks that have stalled since Trump re-engaged with Russia’s leader Vladimir Putin in February and pressed Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to negotiate a settlement. Kyiv has said since it is open to a temporary ceasefire, but Russia has delayed.
Rubio said: “If both sides are serious, then we want to help, but if it’s not going to happen, then we’re just going to move on to other topics that are equally if not more important for the US.”
Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin’s spokesperson, on Friday said there had been “progress” in talks but “many difficult discussions still lie ahead”.
Ukraine on Thursday said it had signed a preliminary agreement with the US over sharing its mineral and energy resources, which has been a key demand from Trump, who sees it as a way to pay back the US for billions of dollars in military aid.
Such an accord had been close to being signed in February but was derailed by an argument between Trump and Zelenskyy in the Oval Office.
Rubio said the talks in Paris were “very positive” and the involvement of European countries had been constructive.
Another meeting in a similar format will be held next week in London to allow the US to get Russian input and for Ukraine to decide on its positions.
A French official said Thursday’s gathering was significant because it began “a new positive process” in peace talks that this time had more involvement from European countries.
The talks were the first high-level, in-person talks in the US’s efforts that have included European powers directly. A British official also said the discussion felt significant regarding the US getting to the same position as Europeans on Putin’s lack of commitment to peace plans.
“The UK, France and Germany can help us move the ball on this and get this closer to a resolution,” Rubio said.
Rubio declined to describe the framework that the US has put on the table at this stage. He added it was too early to make definitive decisions on security guarantees, although they had been discussed.
Ukraine has pushed hard for such guarantees, especially regarding its ability to maintain and build up a strong army to defend itself, and its European allies have also emphasised their importance.
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