President Donald Trump's mission to end the war in Eastern Europe could be coming to an abrupt end as his administration says it will 'move on' from Russia-Ukraine peace talks unless one thing happens.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has been charged with brokering a deal between the two nations that have been at war since Russia invaded its southern neighbor in February 2022.
The 53-year-old and his team have been on the task for more than a month, having sat down in Saudi Arabia with Ukrainian officials to discuss plans to end the country's ongoing war, on March 11.
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Since then he has shared the table with Russian officials and has worked alongside Trump to try and get both nations to sign a peace agreement.
Now, speaking to reporters, Rubio has warned both nations that if there's no indication that a truce can be struck in the coming days, the US will back away from the negotiation table.
"We're not going to continue with this endeavour for weeks and months on end," Rubio said, before stating that there are 'other priorities to focus on'.
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Having met with European leaders in Paris yesterday (April 17), the former presidential candidate told the press today: "We need to determine very quickly now - and I'm talking about a matter of days - whether or not this is doable.
"If it's not going to happen, then we're just going to move on."
It comes after positive steps were taken by Ukraine in the US' bid for the nation to sign a minerals deal, which in return would see an investment fund set up by America to help with the reconstruction of Ukraine.
Yesterday, the Ukrainian government announced that it had signed a memorandum of intent with the US echoing the above, part of an economic partnership agreement.
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The US and Ukraine hope to strike a deal by next Saturday (April 26).
On Monday, with no clear-cut successful ceasefire agreement, Trump slammed both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Trump branded the Ukrainian leader 'a dictator without elections' and accused him of having 'done a terrible job'.
Before later telling reporters in the Oval Office that ultimately, he believe 'the mistake was letting the war happen' in the first place - which he blames on not only Zelenskyy, but Biden and Putin too.
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He went on: "You have millions of people dead, millions of people dead because of three people.
"Let's say Putin number one. But let's say Biden, who had no idea what the hell he was doing, number two, and Zelenskyy. And all I can do is try and stop it."
Topics: Ukraine, Russia, Donald Trump, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Vladimir Putin
Joe Yates