US prepared to give up on Ukraine peace negotiations

Secretary of state warns the president is ready to move on’

- TARA COBHAM

The US will walk away from talks aimed at brokering a RussiaUkraine peace deal within days unless there are clear signs that an agreement can be reached, US secretary of state Marco Rubio has warned.

Mr Rubio’s threats came at the start of the Easter weekend, after Russia’s latest attack on Ukraine left one person dead and 98 injured in Kharkiv yesterday morning. US officials said last month that the US president hoped to secure a ceasefire agreement by 20 April, a symbolic date on which Western and Orthodox celebrations of Easter will overlap this year – and one that is fast approaching, with no deal currently in close sight.

Thursday showed signs of some progress in the US talks with Ukraine, after Donald Trump said he expected to sign a minerals deal with Kyiv next week. Negotiations had been delayed after his explosive Oval Office clash with Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky in February. But in another stark shift, after meeting with European and Ukrainian leaders on Thursday, Mr Rubio said Mr Trump was prepared to declare “Well, we’re done” on the peace talks, adding that the US has “bigger challenges that we need to figure out”.