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

By ANGELA CHARLTON and HANNA ARHIROVA Associated Press PARIS AP U S Secretary of State Marco Rubio revealed Friday that the U S may move on from trying to secure a Russia-Ukraine peace deal if there is no progress in the coming days after months of efforts have failed to bring an end to the fighting He spoke in Paris after landmark talks among U S Ukrainian and European executives produced outlines for strategies toward peace and appeared to make specific long-awaited progress A new meeting is expected next week in London and Rubio suggested that could be decisive in determining whether the Trump administration continues its involvement We are now reaching a point where we need to decide whether this is even achievable or not Rubio informed reporters upon departure Because if it s not then I think we re just going to move on It s not our war Rubio mentioned We have other priorities to focus on He declared the U S administration wants to decide in a matter of days US Secretary of State Marco Rubio looks on as he arrives at the Quai d Orsay France s Minister of Foreign Affairs for high-level talks to discuss Ukraine and its measure in Paris Thursday April Julien de Rosa Pool via AP US and Ukraine make progress on minerals deal His comments came as the U S and Ukraine are nearing a long-delayed deal granting the U S access to Ukraine s vast mineral guidance which has been intertwined with President Donald Trump s peace push Trump commented Thursday We have a minerals deal and Ukraine s financial market minister commented Friday that the two countries signed a memorandum of intent ahead of a manageable fuller agreement later The deal which Ukrainian Commercial sector Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko stated she signed with U S Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is expected to pave the way for substantial investments infrastructure modernization and long-term cooperation The framework of the mineral deal had stalled in February following a contentious Oval Office meeting between Trump U S Vice President JD Vance and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy Negotiations have since resumed Despite apparent growing U S impatience with the peace efforts Rubio called Thursday s Paris talks constructive Nobody rejected anything nobody got up from the table or walked away Rubio didn t single out Russia or Ukraine as blocking peace efforts He announced he informed Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov about the outlines that emerged when they spoke after the Paris talks but wouldn t say how Lavrov reacted When demanded about Rubio s comments on Friday Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov communicated reporters that fairly complex negotiations are ongoing between Russia and the U S He did not give details but disclosed no direct talks between Trump and Putin are scheduled in the coming days Russia is striving toward resolving this conflict securing its own interests and is open to dialogue We are continuing to do this he stated After weeks of tensions with European allies Rubio narrated reporters in Paris that the European negotiators proved helpful The U K and France and Germany can help us move the ball on this European concerns are growing about Trump s readiness to draw closer to Russia These talks were the first time since Trump s inauguration that top American Ukrainian and European administrators met to discuss an end to the war which has posed the biggest defense challenge to Europe since World War II The meetings addressed prevention guarantees for Ukraine in the future but Rubio wouldn t discuss any doable U S role in that Particular kind of U S encouragement for Ukraine is seen as crucial to ensuring that Russia would not attack again after a peace deal is reached Rubio and presidential envoy Steve Witkoff have helped lead U S efforts to seek peace and Witkoff has met three times with Putin Rubio reported Several rounds of negotiations have been held in Saudi Arabia 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 Russia attacks Ukrainian cities wounding scores Meanwhile Russia kept up a series of deadly strikes on Ukrainian cities according to bureaucrats there wounding scores of civilians days after missiles killed at least during Palm Sunday celebrations in the northern city of Sumy One person died and others including six children were hurt as Russia hit Kharkiv Ukraine s second-largest city early in the day its mayor Ihor Terekhov disclosed on Friday He noted cluster munitions struck a densely populated neighborhood four times In this photo taken from video distributed by Russian Defense Ministry Press Amenity on Friday April the Russian BM- Grad self-propelled mm multiple rocket launcher fires towards Ukrainian positions in Ukraine Russian Defense Ministry Press Utility via AP Russian drones also targeted a bakery in Sumy less than a week after the deadly Palm Sunday strike there killing a customer and wounding an employee the regional prosecutor s office explained Photos published by the agency revealed rows of Easter cakes stacked inside a devastated building covered in thick dust as a huge hole gaped in the wall behind them and rubble piled up on the floor Last Sunday s strike on Sumy resulting in mass casualties was the second large-scale missile attack to claim civilian lives in just over a week Selected people including nine children died on April as missiles struck Zelenskyy s hometown of Kryvyi Rih Arhirova broadcasted from Kyiv Ukraine Illia Novikov in Kyiv and Joanna Kozlowska in London contributed to this account