POLITICS

Rubio suggested the US will drop Ukraine-Russia peace efforts if no progress within days

Apr 18, 2025, 12:29 AM | Updated: 7:42 pm

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, center, and Germany's Political Director of the Ministry of Fore...

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, center, and Germany's Political Director of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Gunter Sautter, right, attend a meeting on Ukraine and its security, in Paris Thursday, April 17, 2025. (Julien de Rosa, Pool via AP)
Credit: ASSOCIATED PRESS

(Julien de Rosa, Pool via AP)

PARIS (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Friday that the U.S. may be ready to “move on” from efforts for a Russia-Ukraine peace deal if there is not progress in the coming days.

Speaking in Paris after a marathon day of landmark talks among U.S., Ukrainian and European officials, Rubio said the discussions had been constructive and produced an outline for steps toward peace.

French officials said a new meeting in the same format is expected in London in the coming days. Rubio said he could join that meeting, and it’s expected early in the week.

″We are not reaching a point where we need to decide whether this is even possible or not,″ Rubio told reporters upon departure.

After weeks of efforts by the Trump administration to broker a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine have failed to bring an end to the fighting, Rubio said the U.S. administration wants to decide “in a matter of days whether or not this is doable in the next few weeks.”

France hosted high-level talks Thursday to discuss Ukraine and its security, the first time since President Donald Trump’s inauguration that top American, Ukrainian and European officials are known to have met together to discuss an end to the war. The meetings came as European concerns grow about Trump’s readiness to draw closer to Russia.

Rubio and presidential envoy Steve Witkoff have helped lead U.S. efforts to seek peace. Several rounds of negotiations have been held in Saudi Arabia. Witkoff has met three times with Putin, Rubio said.

Moscow has effectively refused to accept a comprehensive ceasefire that Trump has pushed and Ukraine has endorsed. Russia has made it conditional on a halt in Ukraine’s mobilization efforts and Western arms supplies, which are demands rejected by Ukraine.

Politics

President Donald Trump arrives to give a commencement address at the University of Alabama, Thursda...

Associated Press

The Latest: Trump administration asks Supreme Court to strip protections from Venezuelan migrants

The White House is planning on Friday to unveil President Donald Trump’s 2026 budget, a sweeping framework that’s expected to propose steep reductions, if not a wholesale zeroing out, of various federal programs as part of his administration’s priorities. Meanwhile, the Trump administration has asked the Supreme Court to strip temporary legal protections from 350,000 […]

2 hours ago

Office of Management and Budget director Russell Vought walks after a television interview at the W...

Associated Press

White House will unveil Trump’s 2026 budget, his first since returning to power

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House is planning on Friday to unveil President Donald Trump’s 2026 budget, a sweeping framework that is expected to propose steep reductions, if not a wholesale zeroing out, of various federal programs as part of his administration’s priorities. Budgets do not become law but serve as a touchstone for the […]

2 hours ago

President Donald Trump holds up a signed executive order establishing the Religious Liberty Commiss...

Associated Press

Americans see more overreach from the president than from judges, an AP-NORC poll finds

WASHINGTON (AP) — As President Donald Trump faces significant pushback from federal judges, a new poll shows U.S. adults are more likely to believe the president is the one overstepping his power rather than the courts — although Republicans largely think the opposite. According to a poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs […]

3 hours ago

FILE - The Health and Human Services seal is seen before a news conference with Secretary Robert F....

Associated Press

List of child welfare research grants marked for termination in mistaken HHS email

An employee of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services sent an email Wednesday that mistakenly included plans to terminate more than 150 research grants related to child and family well-being. The grants are administered by the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation and distributed across the country. A spokesperson for HHS said the […]

9 hours ago

FILE - In this combination of file photos, President Donald Trump, left, and Ukraine's President Vo...

Associated Press

A US-led effort to end the war in Ukraine looks favorable to Russia, but mixed signals emerge

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — The discussions have taken place in an ornate Kremlin hall, on the polished marble of St. Peter’s Basilica and in a famously contentious session in the Oval Office of the White House. What’s emerged so far from the Washington-led effort to end the war in Ukraine suggests a deal that seems […]

9 hours ago

FILE - The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is seen in Washington, April 16, 2025. (AP ...

Associated Press

Email mistake reveals secret plans to end research on Head Start and other child safety net programs

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — The Trump administration could gut research on the effectiveness of child welfare programs, with plans to terminate dozens of university grants studying improvements to Head Start and child care policy, according to a spreadsheet mistakenly made public this week. The document listed more than 150 research projects under consideration for […]

9 hours ago

Rubio suggested the US will drop Ukraine-Russia peace efforts if no progress within days