Trump to decide this week on continuing Ukraine-Russia peace efforts, says Rubio

US President Donald Trump will decide this week whether to continue efforts to bring an end to the war between Ukraine and Russia or abandon them for other priorities, according to Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

In recent days, Trump has often repeated his frustration at Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy , whom he has bashed for several months now. He has again bashed him for refusing to accept a US ceasefire proposal that would have recognised the Russian occupation of five Ukrainian provinces. In much lighter tone, he has also hinted dissatisfaction with the stand of Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

Rubio on Sunday told NBC News that Trump will make a determination this week “about whether this is an endeavor that we want to continue to be involved in or if it’s time to sort of focus on some other issues that are equally if not more important in some cases”.

More from World News

Trump withdraws US from Ukraine-Russia peace negotiations US-Ukraine minerals deal to be signed ‘within hours’ in Washington DC: Report

Rubio further said, “But we want to see it happen. There are reasons to be optimistic, but there are reasons to be realistic of course as well. We’re close, but we’re not close enough.”

Separately, Trump on Sunday that he wants Ukraine and Russia to reach a deal in “two weeks or less”.

ALSO READ: With recognition of Russian occupation, Trump's 'peace plan' seeks Ukraine's surrender

Trump and Rubio’s remarks came a day after Trump met Zelenskyy on the sidelines of Pope Francis’ funeral. In a social media post after their meeting, Trump said that is wondering if Putin is playing him.

Impact Shorts

More Shorts

‘The cries of this widow will echo’: In first public remarks, Erika Kirk warns Charlie’s killers they’ve ‘unleashed a fire’

Trump urges Nato to back sanctions on Russia, calls for 50–100% tariffs on China

“It makes me think that maybe he doesn’t want to stop the war, he’s just tapping me along, and has to be dealt with differently, through ‘banking’ or ‘secondary sanctions’. Too many people are dying!” said Trump.

Rubio said that Trump has “made real progress” in bringing the war to an end, but “those last couple steps of this journey were always going to be the hardest ones, and it needs to happen soon”.

“We cannot continue, as I said, to dedicate time and resources to this effort if it’s not going to come to fruition,” said Rubio.

This is the second time in recent weeks that Rubio has said that the Trump administration would move on if it concludes that Ukraine and Russia do not have the intention to end the war.

“If it is not possible to end the war in Ukraine, we need to move on. 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 is, we’re in. If it’s not, then we have other priorities to focus on as well," said Rubio earlier this month.

Even though Trump has applied the bulk of pressure on Ukraine, which has ranged from personal attacks on Zelenskyy, calling for his ouster, and pressuring Ukraine into accepting ceasefire proposal that would essentially mean the country’s surrender, it is Russia that has not yet taken any step towards peace. Russia has rejected all three ceasefire proposals that the Trump administration has floated.

Last month, the Trump administration endorsed a 30-day ceasefire proposal that Ukraine accepted. Russia laid down a host of maximalist demands as a pre-condition to accept that proposal. Then, Russia did not implement a US-endorsed ceasefire related to the energy infrastructure that Ukraine promptly accepted. Thirdly, the Trump administration reached an agreement with Ukraine and Russia regarding the Black Sea. Soon after the announcement of the deal, Russia rejected it and said it would only implement the ceasefire when the United States would remove specific sanctions on Russia and restore Russia’s access to international payments system SWIFT.