President Donald Trump says the United States will “take a pass” on trying to resolve the Russia-Ukraine war if either Moscow or Kyiv makes it too difficult to end the conflict.
Trump was speaking after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio commented – following talks with European allies in Paris – that Washington would “move on” if a truce did not seem “doable” within days.
The US president refused on Friday to cast blame on either Russian President Vladimir Putin, who ordered the February 2022 full-scale invasion of pro-Western Ukraine, or Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. But he insisted both sides had to make progress.
“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,” Trump said.
“But, hopefully, we won’t have to do that.”
Rubio further suggested on Friday that Trump’s patience towards the negotiations is running thin.
“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,’” he said.
Trump told reporters on Friday, however, that he did not want to say he was walking away from the talks. He said he still believes there is a good chance to end the conflict.
“It’s coming to a head right now,” he said.
US Vice President JD Vance also said he was “optimistic” a resolution could be reached, while speaking on a trip to Rome.
‘Trying to help’
Ukraine has agreed to a full temporary ceasefire and accused Russia of stalling on a deal to get a better negotiating position.
Putin last month rejected a joint US-Ukrainian proposal for a full and unconditional pause in the conflict, while the Kremlin has made a truce in the Black Sea conditional on the West lifting certain sanctions.
When asked if Putin was stalling, Trump, who held direct talks with the Russian leader in February, said: “I hope not … I’ll let you know soon.”
Trump also denied he was being “played” by the former KGB agent, who denied Russia was going to invade right up until the eve of the attack.
“Nobody’s playing me, I’m trying to help,” Trump said.
Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with the Kommersant newspaper published on Monday that it is “not easy” to agree on “key components” of a peace deal.
He did, however, concede that the Trump administration is trying to understand the “root cause” of the conflict, which he said was triggered by “the actions of Washington and Brussels” in having “brought the current regime to power in Ukraine”.
Fighting continues
Amid ceasefire negotiations, on the front line on Friday, a Russian missile strike killed one person in the northeastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, with a separate drone attack killing another person in the nearby city of Sumy.
At least five children were among dozens of people injured in Friday morning’s attack on Kharkiv that damaged 15 residential buildings, a business and an educational facility, according to Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov and emergency services.
Reporting from Kyiv, Al Jazeera’s Zein Basravi said Russia also targeted Lviv, Dnipro, Mykolaiv and Kyiv.
“We saw multiple missile, drone, artillery and rocket attacks in cities across the country about 5am local time when curfews come to a close and people begin their daily lives,” he said.
“[In Kharkiv], civilian infrastructure was damaged, one person was killed, and 74 were injured. Of the 74, five were children,” Basravi reported.
President Zelenskyy said on Thursday that although Russia had seemingly scaled back its targeting of energy infrastructure, the overall volume of missile and drone attacks remained unchanged. It is striking Ukraine’s civilian sites instead, he added.
Russia has said it had hit “key drone production sites” and Ukrainian military airfields.
Moscow also warned on Friday of potential escalation if Germany proceeds with plans to send Taurus long-range missiles to Ukraine. Speaking at the United Nations on Thursday, Russia’s ambassador, Vassily Nebenzia, declared that such a move would mark Germany’s direct entry into the war.
“These countries are waging a war against Russia using their proxy forces,” he said. “Delivering Taurus missiles would be another step toward escalation.”