Secretary of State Marco Rubio will be attending a press conference with Suriname’s President Chang Santov (not pictured) in Paralibo, Suriname on March 27, 2025.
Nathan Howard | Reuters
US President Donald Trump will leave his attempt to mediate a peace agreement with the Russian-Ukraine within days, unless there is a clear indication that he can make a deal, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Friday.
“We are not going to continue this effort for weeks and months. So we need to make a prompt decision right now. I’m talking about the issue for days, whether this is viable or not in the coming weeks,” Rubio said in Paris after meeting European and Ukrainian leaders.
“If that’s not possible, if we’re far enough away that this doesn’t happen, I think the president will probably be there when he says, ‘Well, we’re done.’ ”
There were no immediate comments from Paris, London, Berlin or Kiev on Rubio’s statement. Three European diplomatic sources said Reuters Rubio’s comments reflect the increasing frustration of the White House over Russia’s incommunity to end the war.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that while progress in peace has already been made, contact with Washington is difficult. He said Russia is striving to resolve the conflict while securing its own interests. Moscow remains open to dialogue with the US, he added.
Rubio’s threat came in the midst of signs of progress in US discussions with Ukraine.
Trump predicted on Thursday that he would sign a minerals contract with Kiev next week after the February attempt fell apart after Ukrainian President Voldymi Zelensky’s oval office clashed with Trump and Vice President JD Vance.
The talks in Paris on Thursday were the first substantial, high-level, face-to-face consultations on Trump’s promotion of peace, including European powers. Rubio said the American framework of peace he presented received a “reception of encouragement.” Zelenskiy’s office called The Talks constructive and positive.
Increased frustration proves that peace deals are elusive
It was unclear why Rubio’s tone shifted dramatically overnight. Still, his comments on Friday reinforce the underlines that reinforce the frustration of the White House over the lack of push progress to resolve a growing list of geopolitical challenges.
During his campaign, Trump promised to end the war in Ukraine within his first 24 hours at the White House. He proposed to propose a deal by April or May due to the obstacles, and moderated the inauguration claim.
He pressured both sides to come to the negotiation table, threatening tougher sanctions against Russia and threatening the billion-dollar end in US military support for Kiev.
Both Ukraine and Russia appeared for US-brokered consultations in Saudi Arabia, resulting in a partial ceasefire, but nothing better. Meanwhile, the war continued, including the recent Russian missile attack that struck Smie in northeastern Ukraine, killing 35 people.
If Washington leaves, efforts to mediate peace will likely be founders, as other countries cannot apply similar pressure on both Moscow and Keefe.
Other effects are unknown. The US was able to maintain sanctions against Russia and maintain aid to Kiev without changing its current policy on conflict. Alternatively, Trump could decide to stop paying for Ukraine.
Rubio said that “constructive” Paris spoke with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov after discussing “some elements of the US peace framework.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin said he hopes to remove Ukraine’s ambition to join Russia’s NATO and control the entire four regions of Ukrainian forces it claims, as well as the size of the restricted Ukrainian forces. Kiev says these requests are equivalent to demanding that surrender.
What are some of the peace agreements that will drop European sanctions?
Rubio said Russian sanctions, particularly in the case of Washington, where control is likely to be needed to secure the agreement, have a central role that Europeans play in any peace agreement.
Rubio said the issue of US security assurance came up in a speech in Paris, saying it is an issue that “we can fix in a way that is acceptable to everyone.” However, he warned that “we have a big challenge we need to grasp.”
He said that while it was clear that it would be difficult to strike a peace agreement, there were signs that he could do it right away.
“No one says that this can be done in 12 hours, but I want to see how far it is,” he said. “We need to know now, here and within a few days whether this is viable in the short term, because if not, we think we’ll just move on.”
