U.S. President Donald Trump issued a stark warning on Friday: unless there’s tangible progress soon, Washington will walk away from brokering a Russia-Ukraine peace deal. His tough talk follows similar remarks by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, signalling impatience with stalled negotiations.
“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.” He declined to set a precise deadline, though he acknowledged Rubio’s view that the window for progress spans only a matter of days.
In Paris, Rubio told European and Ukrainian leaders that the United States won’t extend talks indefinitely. “We need to determine very quickly now…whether or not this is doable in the next few weeks,” he said. “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.’”
The push follows a proposal on March 18 in which both sides agreed to refrain from striking energy infrastructure for 30 days. Yet Russia reports that Ukrainian forces have continued strikes on energy sites in 15 Russian regions, while Ukraine says a recent ballistic missile attack on Sumy killed 35 people.
As the clock ticks down, global attention is fixed on whether the peace drive can break through. For diplomats, the next few days could determine if Washington remains at the table—or walks away in frustration, reshaping the course of this conflict.
Reference(s):
U.S. will abandon Ukraine peace push if no progress soon, says Trump
cgtn.com
