US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Monday that a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine should be reached soon and that Washington was trying to determine whether it was worth continuing to serve as a mediator, Reuters reported.
"We can't continue to devote time and resources to this effort if it's not going to happen. Last week was really about finding out how close these parties really are, and whether they're close enough that this merits a continued investment of our time as mediators," Rubio told NBC's "Meet the Press."
Rubio did not say how long the administration of United States President (US) Donald Trump is willing to wait to make a move.
Rubio said on April 18 that Trump would abandon attempts to broker a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine within days unless there were clear signs that a deal could be reached.
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Trump said yesterday that there was no reason for Russian President Vladimir Putin to "launch missiles at civilian areas, cities and villages" in recent days.
"This makes me think that maybe he doesn't want to stop the war, but is just dragging me out, and will have to be dealt with differently, through 'Banking' or 'Secondary Sanctions'? Too many people are dying," Trump wrote on his Truth Social network.
Trump said the day before yesterday that Russia and Ukraine were getting closer to a peace agreement and called on both sides to meet at a high level to finalize the deal.
"They are very close to a deal and the two sides should now meet at very high levels to finalize it," Trump wrote on the Truth Social platform late last night, shortly after landing in Rome, where he attended the funeral of Pope Francis.
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Trump previously stated in an interview with Time magazine that Crimea would remain part of Russia and accused Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky of prolonging the war by prolonging negotiations with Putin.
Russia bombarded Kiev with missiles and drones overnight Wednesday and Thursday (April 23-24), killing at least 12 people in the biggest attack on the Ukrainian capital this year, prompting rare criticism from Trump, who told Putin: "Vladimir, STOP!"
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Zelensky said in Pretoria on April 24 that Kiev would not budge on recognizing Crimea as Russian, while the issue of the peninsula, which Moscow annexed in 2014, is at the center of renewed tensions with Washington.
"We are doing everything our partners have proposed, except for what contradicts our legislation and the Constitution," which stipulates that Crimea is part of Ukraine, Zelensky said at a press conference during a visit to South Africa.
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Bonus video:
