US says it will walk from Ukraine peace push if no progress “within a matter of days”

PHOTO CAPTION: Service members of the Ukrainian Armed Forces fire a Javelin anti-tank missile during drills at a training ground in an unknown location in Ukraine, in this handout picture released February 18, 2022. Ukrainian Joint Forces Operation Press Service/Handout via REUTERS

By Bart H. Meijer and Gabriel Stargardter

PARIS (Reuters) -U.S. 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, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Friday.

"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'."

Three European diplomatic sources told Reuters Rubio's comments, which coincided with signs of some progress in U.S. talks with Ukraine, 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.

Trump said on Thursday he expected to sign a minerals deal with Kyiv next week after an attempt in February fell apart following Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's Oval Office clash with Vice President JD Vance and Trump.

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". 

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.

GROWING FRUSTRATIONS AS PEACE DEALS PROVE ELUSIVE

There was no immediate comment from Paris, London, Berlin or Kyiv on Rubio's statement, which underlined mounting frustrations in the White House over a lack of progress in pushes to settle a growing list of geopolitical challenges.

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".

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.

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.

Russian President Vladimir 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.

DROPPING EUROPEAN SANCTIONS PART OF PEACE DEAL?

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, saying 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."

He said it was clear that a peace deal would be difficult to strike but there needed to be signs it could be done soon.

"We need to figure out here now, within a matter of days, whether this is doable in the short term, because if it's not, then I think we're just going to move on," Rubio said.

 (Reporting by Bart H. Meijer and Dominique Vidalon; Additional reporting from Michel Rose in Paris, Andreas Rinke in Berlin and Christian Lowe in Kyiv, Lili Bayer in Brussels, Writing by Gabriel Stargardter; Editing by Andrew Heavens, Philippa Fletcher and Ros Russell)