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, Reuters reports.
"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.
