The United States may be ready to “move on” from its efforts to broker a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine if there is no clear progress in the coming days, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Friday.
After a grueling day of talks among U.S., Ukrainian and European officials in Paris on Friday, Rubio told reporters, “We’re not going to continue with this endeavor for weeks and months on end.”
“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,” he said, adding that President Donald Trump “feels very strongly about that.”
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office on Friday, Trump said that "Marco is right" that the U.S. wants the war to end, but "hopefully we won't have to" walk away from peace talks. Pressed on a specific timeline for when the U.S. would begin to reevaluate its role in the negotiations, Trump said, “No specific numbers of days, but quickly, we want to get it done.”
“We’re talking about, here, people dying,” Trump said. “We’re going to get it stopped, ideally. 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, and Marco, and Marco is right in saying it."
Trump also expressed confidence that a peace agreement will be reached, saying, “I think we have a good chance of solving the problem.”
The president declined to say whether the U.S. would completely walk away from the talks, saying, “I don’t want to say that, but we want to see it end.” He also declined to say whether the U.S. would continue supporting Ukraine if the administration does walk away from the negotiating table.
Trump said he needs to see “enthusiasm” from Ukraine and Russia that they want the conflict to be over. He also rejected the idea that he’s being “played” by Russia: “Nobody’s playing me. I’m trying to help.”
The comments came after Yulia Svyrydenko, Ukraine’s first deputy prime minister and economy minister, said that Kyiv and Washington had signed a memorandum that is expected to bring both sides closer to clinching a minerals deal that will allow the U.S. access to Ukraine’s rare-earth mineral wealth.
Yulia Svyrydenko said in a post on X late Thursday that it would pave the way for an economic partnership agreement between the U.S. and Ukraine, and establish an investment fund to help reconstruct the country that has been torn apart by Russia’s full-scale invasion since 2022.
Championed by Trump, the deal has stalled since February, when a meeting between the president and his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, at the Oval Office unraveled into a live-on-air clash.
Rubio did not mention the memorandum when he spoke after talks at Paris' Élysée Palace with French President Emmanuel Macron that were also attended by U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff.
“The encouraging reception in Paris to the U.S. framework shows that peace is possible if all parties commit to reaching an agreement,” State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said in a statement Thursday.
Follow live politics coverage here
She added that Trump and the U.S. “have now presented to all parties the outlines of a durable and lasting peace.”
Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Thursday the deal with Ukraine could be signed as early as next week.
“We’re still working on the details. We’re shooting for around April 26th,” added Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who was sitting next to the president. He added that the deal was outlined in an 80-page agreement and contained what the two countries had agreed on previously.
Speaking to reporters in Kyiv on Thursday, Zelenskyy said the memorandum indicated “we have positive, constructive intentions” toward the U.S.
But Trump — who has previously blamed Ukraine for Russia’s invasion, while falsely accusing Zelenskyy of being a “dictator” — said Thursday that he was “not happy” with the Ukrainian leader and added that he had spoken to Russian President Vladimir Putin “a lot.”
Asked by NBC News about Rubio’s comments on the ceasefire, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Friday there was “already certain progress” related to “a moratorium on not striking energy infrastructure facilities.”
“Certain results have already been achieved, but of course, there are still many difficult discussions ahead,” he added.
