Washington (TDI): The President of the United States, Donald Trump, and the Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, said that the United States would walk away from the efforts to broker a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine unless both parties show a clear sign of progress soon.
President Trump told reporters on Friday at the White House that he quickly wants to reach a peace deal between the two warring countries.
Commenting about the casualties during the war, the US President said that nearly 2500 soldiers on average are losing their lives every week in both Russia and Ukraine, and the US is going to get it to stop.
.@POTUS on the Russia/Ukraine war: “We want to save these lies. 2,500 a week are being killed in battle. It’s a vicious battle… We’re going to get it stopped.” pic.twitter.com/IR5V0L5msv
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) April 18, 2025
“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 further said.
Trump’s comments followed the remarks made by Secretary Rubio. The latter said that Russia and Ukraine have just a few days time to show progress, otherwise the United States would walk away and move on.
After meeting the European and Ukrainian leaders in Paris, Rubio said, “We’re not going to continue with this endeavor 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.”
He also 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 remarks reflect the growing frustration in the White House as the chances of a quick peace deal between Russia and Ukraine have grown more elusive, which, according to some European diplomats, is due to the intransigence of Russia to end the war.
The Official Spokesperson of the Kremlin, Dmitry Peskov, said that some progress has been made on the peace deal already but that negotiations with Washington were difficult.
He also stated that Russia had been striving to bring this conflict to an end while ensuring its interests.
The US officials were also frustrated with the Ukrainian government after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy commented earlier this week that President Trump’s Special Envoy, Steve Witkoff, was “spreading Russian narratives,” and it was not helpful to the process of peaceful settlement.
Read More: US Special Envoy, Putin Hold ‘Productive’ Talks on Ukraine’s Future
The US Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s recent visit to Paris to meet with the Ukrainian and European leadership was the first substantive, and high-level in-person talks on the issue, which according to Rubio received an “encouraging reception.”
The office of the Ukrainian President also stated that the talks were constructive and positive.
Talking about the European leaders’ concerns over the Russia-Ukraine peace plan, Rubio commented that the European leaders had a key role to play in any peace deal, especially when the European sanctions on Russia would likely need to be lifted to secure any peace deal.
The representatives from the United States and Ukraine would re-engage in London next week, to discuss the implementation of a comprehensive ceasefire over land, air, and sea for at least 30 days or more, the US officials said.
Javaria Khalid is a writer and researcher, who specializes in Pakistan's Foreign Policy Analysis, Europe's Security, and Pakistan’s relations with the European countries and the EU. She can be reached at javariakhalid011@outlook.com
