Egypt Daily News – U.S. President Donald Trump threatened on Friday to withdraw the United States from mediation efforts aimed at reaching a peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine if there are no clear signs of progress soon. However, Trump refused to place blame for the lack of a ceasefire deal on either Russian President Vladimir Putin or Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, instead emphasizing that both sides need to make progress.
Echoing the words of his Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, Trump said the U.S. would shift focus to other priorities if an agreement to end the war isn’t reached “soon.”
Trump’s remarks came after Rubio stated that Washington would withdraw from sponsoring the talks within days unless it becomes clear that peace between Moscow and Kyiv is “possible.”
In response to a question about Rubio’s comments, Trump told reporters in the Oval Office: “There’s no specific number of days, but we want to get it done quickly.”
He reiterated that he wasn’t assigning blame to either side for the failure to reach a ceasefire but made it clear that if progress isn’t made, the U.S. may step away. “If one of the parties, for whatever reason, makes it too difficult, we’ll simply say: you’re fools. You’re fools. You’re terrible people, and we’ll move on,” he said. “But hopefully we won’t have to do that.”
Trump has repeatedly claimed that he could end the war in Ukraine within 24 hours if returned to office.
Ukraine has agreed to a temporary comprehensive ceasefire, while accusing Russia of stalling to gain a better negotiating position.
Trump stunned Western capitals when he initiated direct talks with Putin in February, shortly after returning to the White House. Asked whether he believed Putin was stalling, he replied, “I hope not. I’ll let you know soon.”
He also rejected the notion that he was being manipulated by Putin, saying, “Nobody manipulates me. I’m trying to help.”
