(CN) — Following discussions with European and Ukrainian officials in Paris, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Friday warned the United States may “move on” from talks to end the Ukraine-Russia war unless progress can be made quickly.
Rubio’s comments signaled U.S. President Donald Trump was ready to abandon Ukraine and leave it to European powers to support Kyiv against Russia’s invasion. His statement also was seen as applying pressure on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to make tough compromises, including ceding territory occupied by Russian troops.
A U.S. withdrawal would come at a very dire moment for Ukraine because Moscow has intensified its bombing and it appears Russian President Vladimir Putin is pushing for a new military offensive as his forces launch a series of attacks along the 600-mile front line. Ukraine is in a very weakened state, though many experts believe it can still hold out against Russia’s invasion.
“We need to determine very quickly now — and I’m talking about a matter of days — whether or not this is doable,” Rubio said about getting Russia and Ukraine to agree to a truce.
“If it’s not going to happen, then we’re just going to move on.”
There was no immediate reaction from European and Ukrainian leaders to Rubio’s statements, which were partly contradicted by U.S. Vice President JD Vance on Friday.
During a visit to Rome for Easter, Vance said he was “optimistic” about the prospects of progress in ceasefire talks. While in Rome, Vance also met far-right Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
“I want to update the prime minister on some of the negotiations between Russia, Ukraine, and also some of the things that have happened even in the past 24 hours,” Vance said. “I won’t prejudge them, but we do feel optimistic that we can hopefully bring this war — this very brutal war — to a close.”
On Thursday, Meloni went to Washington and was warmly met by Trump at the White House. Meloni has become a potential bridge-builder in reviving transatlantic relations, which have tanked because of Trump’s shift away from Ukraine, his decision to launch a global trade war and his threats to annex Greenland.
Trump and his allies have made it clear they do not want to continue former President Joe Biden’s policy of supporting Ukraine and defeating Russia. Instead, Trump has renewed diplomatic ties with the Kremlin and talked about doing business deals with Russia.
In his election campaign, Trump insisted he could end the war in Ukraine in “24 hours” and he blamed Biden for allowing the conflict to break out.
Since taking over the White House, Trump has steered his administration away from supporting Ukraine. He paused military and intelligence aid to Ukraine after a disastrous Feb. 28 Oval Office encounter with Zelenskyy that descended into shouting. On Thursday, Trump again expressed his dislike for Zelenskyy, saying he was “no fan” of the Ukrainian leader because he was partly responsible for the war with Russia.
But Trump’s efforts to end the war through negotiations have been hampered by the various sides in the war — Russia, Ukraine and European Union leaders. Putin and Zelenskyy have remained steadfast in their opposing demands and European leaders have shown little willingness to drop their support of Kyiv and pressure Zelenskyy into compromises favorable to Trump.
Instead, European leaders have embarked on a major rearmament in a bid to replace the U.S. as Ukraine’s main military supporter and they have toughened their rhetoric against Russia. French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer have launched plans to deploy troops as peacekeepers in the event of a ceasefire in Ukraine.
Speaking to reporters before departing Paris, Rubio said the U.S. could not waste its energies in fruitless negotiations.
“We’re not going to continue with this endeavor for weeks and months on end,” the top American diplomat said. He said the U.S. had “other priorities to focus on.”
Trump “has spent 87 days at the highest level of this government repeatedly making efforts to bring this war to an end,” Rubio said. “We are now reaching a point when we need to decide and determine whether this is even possible or not.”
Rubio said talks on Thursday between American, European and Ukrainian officials sought to find common ground on ending the war. He said the U.S. presented a “broad framework” for peace, though he offered no details.
“It is not our war. We didn’t start it,” Rubio said. “The United States has been helping Ukraine for the past three years and we want it to end, but it’s not our war.”
He added: “If it’s not possible — if we’re so far apart that this is not going to happen — then I think the president’s probably at a point where he’s going to say: ‘Well, we’re done. We’ll do what we can on the margins.’”
Meanwhile, the Kremlin has shown no urgency in agreeing to a truce. A month ago, Putin approved a 30-day pause in attacks on energy infrastructure, but that limited ceasefire ended on Thursday without any new commitments.
During the 30-day moratorium, Russia accused Ukraine of repeatedly violating the energy ceasefire. Ukraine too accused Russia of violations, though it appears Russia mostly refrained from striking energy targets. From the outset of the war in February 2022, Russia repeatedly struck Ukraine’s power grid and energy infrastructure.
On Thursday, Vassily Nebenzia, Russia’s ambassador to the United Nations, said it was “unrealistic” to expect the two sides to agree to a comprehensive ceasefire anytime soon. He said Russia could not trust Ukraine to uphold any ceasefire.
Zelenskyy too has argued that Russia cannot be trusted in ceasefire negotiations and that Russia would violate any ceasefire.
Meanwhile, Russian missile and drone attacks have increased in recent days with devastating strikes in Sumy and Kharkiv. An overnight attack on Kharkiv left more than 90 people wounded and one man dead, according to Ukrainian reports.
Along the front lines, Russian forces are stepping up attacks and making new advances, though at high costs in terms of soldiers and equipment.
Ukrainian officials believe Russia has amassed tens of thousands of troops for an attack on Sumy, a region sitting northwest of Kharkiv and adjacent to the Russian region of Kursk, which was invaded by Ukraine last August.
Courthouse News reporter Cain Burdeau is based in the European Union.