Trump May Abandon Ukraine Peace Push In Days If No Progress, Warns Marco Rubio After Paris Talks
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio warns Trump may abandon brokering a Russia-Ukraine peace deal within days if no feasible agreement seems likely.
United States President Donald Trump may withdraw his efforts to broker a Russia-Ukraine peace deal within days if there are no clear signs that an agreement is feasible, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Friday. The warning comes amidst tentative progress in US-Ukraine talks. On Thursday, Trump said he expected to finalise a deal with Kyiv next week that would grant the United States access to Ukraine’s mineral resources. A similar attempt in February failed following a clash between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Trump, along with Vice President JD Vance, during a meeting in the Oval Office.
Speaking in Paris following meetings with European and Ukrainian leaders, Rubio stated, “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,” as quoted by news agency Reuters.
He further noted that US President Trump remains deeply invested in the peace initiative but is mindful of other pressing matters. “The president feels very strongly about that. He has dedicated a lot of time and energy to this … this is important, but there are a lot of other really important things going on that deserve just as much, if not more attention,” Rubio added, as per Reuters.
The discussions in Paris marked the first high-level, in-person talks involving European powers as part of Trump’s push for peace. Following the meetings, Rubio said the US peace framework received an “encouraging reception.” Meanwhile, Zelenskyy’s office described the talks as “constructive and positive.”
Marco Rubio Talks To Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov Over US Deal
Rubio’s remarks highlighted the growing frustration within the White House over delays in resolving several global crises. Trump, who had pledged during his election campaign to end the Ukraine war within 24 hours of assuming office, later adjusted that timeline to suggest a deal could be achieved by April or May, acknowledging the mounting challenges.
Rubio also confirmed he had spoken with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov after the Paris meetings, briefing him on “some of the elements of” the US peace proposal, as per Reuters' report. He acknowledged that the question of US security guarantees had arisen during discussions but did not elaborate further.
He said, “Security guarantees was an issue we can fix in sort of in a way that’s acceptable to everyone,” but emphasised that there were larger issues to resolve, particularly given the short timeframe.
“There’s no one saying this can be done in 12 hours. But we want to see how far apart it is and whether those differences can even be narrowed, if it’s even possible to get movement within the period of time we have in mind,” he said, as quoted by the report.
The French presidency and foreign ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Related Video
Breaking: Elderly Couple Found Murdered at Home in Delhi’s Shahdara, Police Probe Underway
Top Headlines
