By Bart H. Meijer, Gabriel Stargardter and Andrea Shalal
PARIS/WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The United States will walk away from efforts to broker a Russia-Ukraine peace deal unless there are clear signs of progress soon, U.S. President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Friday.
“Quickly, we want to get it done,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “Now if for some reason one of the two parties makes it very difficult, we’re just going to say, ‘you’re foolish, you’re fools, you’re horrible people, and we’re going to just take a pass. But hopefully we won’t have to do that.”
Trump’s comments followed remarks by Rubio, his top diplomat, who said the sides had just days to show progress or Washington would walk.
“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,” Rubio said in Paris after meeting European and Ukrainian leaders.
“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’.”
Trump, when asked, declined to set a specific deadline for how long he was willing to wait.
“Marco’s right in saying … we want to see it end,” Trump said. Asked if Russian President Vladimir Putin was stalling, Trump replied: “I hope not.”
Over the past few weeks, Trump officials have acknowledged privately that the chances of a quick peace deal in Ukraine have grown elusive. Rubio’s comments, three European diplomats said, reflected growing frustration in the White House over Russian intransigence to end the war.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said some progress on a peace settlement had already been made but that contacts with Washington were difficult. He said Russia was striving to resolve the conflict while ensuring its own interests. Moscow remained open to dialogue with the United States, he added.
U.S. officials were also frustrated by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s comment this week that Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, was “spreading Russian narratives,” and said that was not helpful to the process, one U.S. official said.
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. Rubio said a U.S. peace framework he presented received an “encouraging reception.” Zelenskiy’s office called the talks constructive and positive.
Vice President JD Vance, speaking in Rome as he met Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, said he was optimistic the United States could help end this “very brutal war”.
A U.S. official said the sides would re-engage in London next week, giving Ukraine time to agree fully to a “term sheet” presented by Washington. Kyiv was ready for a comprehensive ceasefire over sea, land and air for at least 30 days or longer, the official said.
GROWING FRUSTRATIONS AS PEACE DEALS PROVE ELUSIVE
Trump promised during his election campaign to end the war in Ukraine within his first 24 hours in the White House. He moderated that claim on taking office, suggesting a deal by April or May as obstacles mounted.
He has pressured both sides to come to the negotiating table, threatening tougher sanctions on Russia or an end to billions of dollars in U.S. military support for Kyiv.
Both Ukraine and Russia showed up for U.S.-brokered talks in Saudi Arabia, which resulted in a partial ceasefire, but nothing more. Meanwhile, the war has continued, including a recent Russian missile attack that hit Sumy in northeastern Ukraine, killing 35 people – an attack Trump called a “mistake”.
A source familiar with internal deliberations said Trump had made clear to his team he was questioning whether it was worthwhile sticking with the talks to break the impasse.
The first U.S. official said Rubio’s comments were reflecting Trump’s frustration with the issue and a concern that this will soon be “Trump’s war.”
If Washington walks away, efforts to broker a peace would likely founder because no other nation is able to bring similar pressure on both Moscow and Kyiv.
Other impacts are unclear. The United States could keep its current policy on the conflict unchanged, maintaining sanctions on Russia and keeping U.S. aid flowing to Kyiv. Alternatively, Trump could decide to halt payments to Ukraine.
Trump said on Thursday he expected to sign a minerals deal with Kyiv next week after an attempt in February fell apart following Zelenskiy’s Oval Office clash with Vance and the Republican president.
Rubio said he spoke with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov after the Paris talks and briefed him on elements of the U.S. peace framework.
Putin has said he wants Ukraine to drop its NATO ambitions, permanently cede to Russia the four regions it has lost and limit the size of its army. Kyiv says those demands are tantamount to demanding its capitulation.
However, Bloomberg reported on Friday that Washington was prepared to recognize Russian control of the Ukrainian region of Crimea, annexed by Moscow in 2014, as part of a broader peace agreement between Moscow and Kyiv.
Rubio said the Europeans had a central role to play in any peace pact, especially as their sanctions on Russia would likely need to be lifted to secure an accord.
He said the issue of U.S. security guarantees came up in the Paris talks, adding they were an issue “we can fix in a way that’s acceptable to everyone.” But, he cautioned, “we have bigger challenges that we need to figure out.”
(Reporting by Bart H. Meijer and Dominique Vidalon in Paris and Andrea Shalal in Washington; Additional reporting from Michel Rose in Paris, Andreas Rinke in Berlin and Christian Lowe in Kyiv, Lili Bayer in Brussels, Steve Holland in Washington and Erin Banco in New York; Writing by Gabriel Stargardter and Jeff Mason; Editing by Andrew Heavens, Philippa Fletcher, Ros Russell and Sandra Maler)
