Russia-Ukraine Talks: With the Russia and Ukraine continue to engage in armed conflict and missile attacks, the United States is now considering abandoning its efforts to broker a peace deal between the two nations. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio indicated on Friday that the United States could consider stepping back from its push for a peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine if tangible progress isn’t made soon.
Speaking in Paris after a full day of high-level talks involving US, Ukrainian, and European leaders, Rubio described the discussions as productive and said they had helped lay out a preliminary framework for moving toward a resolution. However, he emphasized the need for momentum in the coming days to keep diplomatic efforts alive.
“We are not reaching a point where we need to decide whether this is even possible or not,” Rubio said.
French officials said a new meeting in the same format is expected in London in the coming days. Rubio said he could join that meeting, and it’s expected early in the week. After weeks of efforts by the Trump administration to broker a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine have failed to bring an end to the fighting, Rubio said the US administration wants to decide “in a matter of days whether or not this is doable in the next few weeks”.
France hosted high-level talks Thursday to discuss Ukraine and its security, the first time since President Donald Trump’s inauguration that top American, Ukrainian and European officials are known to have met together to discuss an end to the war. The meetings came as European concerns grow about Trump’s readiness to draw closer to Russia.
Rubio and presidential envoy Steve Witkoff have helped lead US efforts to seek peace. Several rounds of negotiations have been held in Saudi Arabia. Witkoff has met three times with Putin, Rubio said.
Moscow has effectively refused to accept a comprehensive ceasefire that Trump has pushed and Ukraine has endorsed. Russia has made it conditional on a halt in Ukraine’s mobilisation efforts and Western arms supplies, which are demands rejected by Ukraine. (With PTI inputs)
