US Threatens To Abandon Ukraine Peace Negotiations
Secretary of State Marco Rubio indicated the United States may back off from assisting in peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio indicated that it needs to be determined within days whether achieving a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine is “doable in the short term,” warning that he thinks the U.S. will “move on” if it is not achievable.
Rubio has been working alongside Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff to broker a 30-day ceasefire agreement with Russia and Ukraine, which has not yet been seen to fruition.
“We are now reaching a point where we need to decide whether this is even possible or not,” Rubio told reporters Friday while departing from negotiations with his counterparts in Paris. “Because if it’s not, then I think we’re just going to move on.”
“It’s not our war. We have other priorities to focus on,” he added, suggesting the U.S. would decide if continued talks were “doable” in a “matter of days.”
But Rubio noted that the U.S. will help if either or both sides are “serious about peace.”
“@POTUS has been clear: The time to end the war between Russia and Ukraine is now. Today in Paris, @SE_MiddleEast, @SPE_Kellogg and I met with leaders from France, the United Kingdom, Germany, and Ukraine to talk about how we can stop the killing and reach a just and sustainable peace,” Rubio noted in a post on X.
While ceasefire negotiations have been slow, Trump has maintained that efforts to obtain a minerals deal with Ukraine are picking up pace. The U.S. leader said access to the country’s critical natural resources would provide a strong interest in maintaining Ukraine’s sovereignty and security for years to come.
The secretary also suggested that the U.K., France and Germany can help “move the ball” on negotiations. Officials who met in Paris have agreed to meet again in London next week with hopes of gearing peace talks toward a secured deal.
Despite Rubio’s comments, Vice President Vance said Friday he believes talks will move forward.
“The negotiations, I won’t pre-judge them, but we do feel optimistic that we can hopefully bring this war, this very brutal war to a close,” he told reporters during his visit to Rome, where he met with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni — a day after she met with President Trump at the White House.
Ukrainian Economy Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko said she signed a memorandum of intent with the U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent ahead of a potential agreement.
“I assume they’re going to live up to the deal, so we’ll see. But we have a deal on that,” Trump said Thursday.
