The US president could use a lack of progress in peace talks as an “excuse” to walk away, unnamed officials in the bloc have told the paper
EU officials are worried that US President Donald Trump could be on the verge of abandoning his efforts to find a diplomatic solution to the Ukraine conflict, the Financial Times has reported.
During his election campaign, Trump repeatedly promised to swiftly put an end to the fighting between Moscow and Kiev. However, after the first 100 days of his second term in the White House he has not been able to get the two sides to engage in direct talks with each other or agree to a full 30-day ceasefire proposed by Washington.
Russia’s reluctance to give in to key demands by the US and Ukraine and the overall “complexity of the conflict” have made Trump rethink his commitment to the peace process, the FT reported on Monday, citing unnamed Western European officials.
One official suggested that Trump was “setting up a situation where he gives himself excuses to walk away and leave it to Ukraine and us [EU] to fix.”
Another source, who is said to have been briefed on the discussions, claimed that US officials are “getting concerned that they are really coming back with nothing in talks with Russia” and have begun floating ideas for a deal that would fit into Trump’s quick timeline for achieving peace.
The US president’s “impatience” when it comes to ending the conflict is a “problem,” the source added.
A senior Ukrainian official also told the FT he believes there is a “serious possibility” that Washington could abandon Kiev.
Trump said on Sunday that he wants a deal between Russia and Ukraine to be achieved within “two weeks or less.” US Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned at the weekend that the US could disengage from the peace process if it does not see rapid progress in discussions. Washington is now trying to make a “determination about whether this is an endeavor that we want to continue to be involved in,” Rubio told NBC News’ Meet the Press.
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Russian officials have said on numerous occasions that Moscow is ready to begin talks with Kiev without any preconditions. However, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov noted on Monday that so far Russia has not seen any steps from Ukraine that would signal its eagerness to start negotiating.
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