US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Friday that President Donald Trump will walk away from efforts to broker a Russia-Ukraine peace deal within days unless there are clear signs that a deal can be done.
Rubio stated this in Paris after meeting European and Ukrainian leaders.
“We're not going to continue with this endeavour for weeks and months on end. So we need to determine very quickly now, and I'm talking about a matter of days, whether or not this is doable in the next few weeks.
“If it's not possible, if we're so far apart that this is not going to happen, then I think the president is probably at a point where he's going to say, well, we're done,” he said.
Rubio's comments, which coincided with signs of some progress in US talks with Ukraine, is said to have reflected growing frustration in the White House over Russian intransigence to end the war.
According to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, some progress on a peace settlement had already been made but that contacts with Washington were difficult.
Peskov states that Russia was striving to resolve the conflict while ensuring its own interests, adding that Moscow remained open to dialogue with the United States.
Recall that Trump said on Thursday that he expected to sign a minerals deal with Kyiv next week after an attempt in February fell apart following Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's Oval Office clash with Vice President JD Vance and Trump.
While speaking in Rome as he met Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, the US Vice President said he was optimistic that the United States could help end this “very brutal war”.
DAILY POST reports that the talks in Paris on Thursday were the first substantive, high level and in-person talks on Trump's peace push that have included European powers.
According to Rubio, a US peace framework he presented received an encouraging reception.
Meanwhile , Zelensky's office has described the talks constructive and positive.
