Washington will soon see if Russia is stalling talks, US state secretary says

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has stated that US President Donald Trump's administration expects Russia to be ready to end the war.

Source: Rubio in a statement following a meeting with NATO foreign ministers in Brussels on Friday 4 April, as reported by European Pravda

Details: Rubio noted that Trump wants to end the Russo-Ukrainian war as soon as possible. He is confident that the United States will find out "soon enough, in a matter of weeks, not months, whether Russia is serious about peace or not". 

"Here's what the president wanted to do. He wants to end this war. He wanted to test this very early in his administration: Is it possible to end this war on terms that are acceptable to both sides? Because you can't end the war unless both sides agree. And that's what we're in the process of finding out. We will know soon enough, in a matter of weeks, not months, whether Russia is serious about peace or not," he said.

Rubio stated that the US is closely observing Russia and added that if Moscow employs a delaying tactic, Washington will not entertain it, as Trump will not engage in endless negotiations.

Rubio noted that he could not give any specific dates for an agreement and said there should be "reasonable" ceasefire conditions.

"If you're interested in peace, you stop fighting. And you lay out the conditions by which you're willing to end the war, and these have to be reasonable conditions, right? Not crazy stuff. If you're interested in peace, that's what you do. If you’re not interested in peace, then you sort of drag it out, come up with excuses," he said.

Rubio also noted, "If all of a sudden, we wake up tomorrow and the Russians are launching a massive offensive, I think that's a pretty clear sign that they're not interested in peace".

"That hasn’t happened yet, let’s hope it doesn’t happen. We want to know whether they want a peace or not. And if they do, then there’s a way there and we’re willing to help. If they’re not then it’s good to know early, so we can adjust our policies accordingly," the official summed up.

Background:

• Senior officials in the Trump administration have begun to acknowledge that the United States may not be able to reach a peace agreement on Ukraine in the coming months due to additional conditions set by Moscow during negotiations.
• Meanwhile, Trump told NBC News that he was furious after Putin questioned Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s legitimacy and suggested that the US could impose additional tariffs of 25-50% on buyers of Russian oil.
• On 3 April, Russian Presidential Envoy for International Cooperation Kirill Dmitriev confirmed that he was in Washington to meet with US administration officials to "resume dialogue".

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