Trump confirms U.S. may withdraw from mediation between Russia, Ukraine

Bloomberg reported the information.

Donald Trump confirmed that the United States may stop actively participating in attempts to reach a ceasefire in Ukraine if there are no tangible steps toward an agreement in the near future.  

"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," Trump told reporters on Friday, April 18.  

The U.S. President emphasized that he does not have a "specific number of days" during which he expects an agreement before reconsidering his position. However, he wants to see quick progress.

Statements by U.S. Secretary of State Rubio  

"We're not going to continue with this endeavour 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. 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,'" Rubio said in Paris after meeting with European and Ukrainian leaders, according to Reuters.

On April 18, at a briefing for journalists, Rubio also said that the Russian-Ukrainian war has no military solution. In his opinion, neither side has the strategic capability to quickly end the war.  

The Secretary of State noted that the U.S. seeks "to avoid the deaths of thousands and thousands of people over the next year."  

"But we’re not going to continue to fly all over the world and do meeting after meeting after meeting if no progress is being made. So if they’re serious about peace – either side, or both – we want to help. If it’s not going to happen, then we’re just going to move on. We’re going to move on to other topics that are equally if not more important in some ways to the United States," he concluded.  

According to three European diplomatic sources, Rubio’s comments, which coincide with signs of some progress in the U.S.-Ukraine negotiations, reflect growing frustration in the White House over Russia’s unwillingness to end the war.

The publication noted that the meeting in Paris on Thursday, April 17, was the first substantive high-level negotiation involving European leaders regarding Trump’s peace efforts, with participation from European states. Rubio said that the U.S. peace plan he presented received a "promising reception." Zelenskyy’s office called the talks constructive and positive.

At the same time, if Washington steps back, peace efforts are likely to cease, as no other country is able to exert similar pressure on both Moscow and Kyiv.  

Additionally, Rubio reported that after the negotiations, he held consultations with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, acquainting him with the key points of the American peace plan.  

• On April 17, Ukraine's Andriy Yermak, Andrii Sybiha, and Rustem Umerov arrived in Paris for talks on ceasefire and security guarantees with UK, German, and French officials. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Special Representative Steve Witkoff also attended.