President Donald Trump has stated that the United States could abandon its role in pursuing a peaceful resolution to the Ukraine conflict if Moscow and Kiev fail to engage in meaningful negotiations. Despite the warning, Trump expressed hope that the fighting would soon come to an end.
During a press briefing on Friday, Trump was asked to respond to recent comments by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who had hinted that Washington might withdraw from its diplomatic efforts if there’s no progress toward a settlement.
“If one of the sides makes things unnecessarily difficult, we’ll simply say: you’re being foolish, you’re acting like fools, and you’re terrible people,” Trump told reporters. “We’ll walk away — but ideally, it won’t come to that.”
Earlier the same day, Rubio told journalists that the U.S. is still evaluating whether a peace agreement is achievable in the near term.
“We need to determine within days if this is something we can realistically achieve soon,” Rubio said. “If not, then we may have to shift focus.”
Although he declined to provide details on the current discussions, Rubio referred to them as part of a “broad framework.”
Trump backed Rubio’s position, saying, “Marco is absolutely right — we want this conflict to end. I believe there’s a real chance we can reach a solution.”
Since returning to office in January, Trump has emphasized his desire for a swift and peaceful end to the war. High-level discussions between Washington and Moscow have taken place, while Kiev and Western allies continue to favor increased military support and escalation.
Russia has insisted it remains open to negotiations, but only if its core security concerns are addressed. These include a permanent ban on NATO forces in Ukraine, official recognition of Russia’s new territorial borders, and Ukraine’s abandonment of NATO membership ambitions and pursuit of nuclear arms.
The Kremlin has rejected the idea of freezing the conflict, arguing that such a move would only delay future violence. It pointed to Ukraine’s repeated breaches of a U.S.-brokered ceasefire on strikes against energy infrastructure as evidence that Kiev cannot be trusted.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed on Friday that while talks are ongoing and there has been some progress, the negotiations remain “difficult,” with major obstacles still unresolved. He reiterated that Russia is committed to a diplomatic resolution.
