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Is Russia dragging retired talks connected Ukraine?
Paris — U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Friday that the U.S. whitethorn "move on" from trying to unafraid a Russia-Ukraine bid woody if determination is nary advancement successful the coming days. Months of efforts by the White House person failed to bring an extremity to the fighting, contempt repeated promises by President Trump earlier helium took bureau that helium would usage his skills arsenic a negotiator to extremity the warfare immediately.
Rubio spoke successful Paris aft landmark talks among U.S., Ukrainian and European officials produced outlines for steps toward bid and appeared to marque immoderate long-awaited progress. A caller gathering is expected adjacent week successful London, and Rubio suggested that could beryllium decisive successful determining whether the Trump medication continues its involvement.
"We are present reaching a constituent wherever we request to determine whether this is adjacent imaginable oregon not," Rubio told reporters upon departure. "Because if it's not, past I deliberation we're conscionable going to determination on."
"It's not our war," Rubio said. "We person different priorities to absorption on." He said the U.S. medication wants to determine "in a substance of days."
His remarks contrasted starkly with the stance of the Biden administration, during which then-Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned not agelong aft the warfare began that Russia's autocratic President Vladimir Putin was determined "to reconstitute the Soviet empire. Short of that, he'd similar to reassert a sphere of power astir neighboring countries that were erstwhile portion of the Soviet bloc. And abbreviated of that, he'd similar to marque definite that each of these countries are someway neutral."
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has besides warned, including successful multiple interviews with CBS News, that Putin is intent connected expanding Russia's borders by unit — and breaking the information bonds forged among Western democracies during World War II, of which the U.S.-led NATO confederation has been the astir tangible.
"For him, we are a outer of Russian Federation. At the moment, it's us, past Kazakhstan, past Baltic states, past Poland, past Germany. At slightest fractional of Germany," Zelenskyy told CBS News' Charlie D'Agata astir 1 twelvemonth ago. "This aggression, and Putin's army, tin travel to Europe, and past the citizens of the United States, the soldiers of the United States, volition person to support Europe due to the fact that they're the NATO members."
Zelenskyy called Russia's penetration a warfare "against the democracy, against the values, against the full world," acknowledging adjacent past that immoderate successful the West mightiness beryllium bushed of proceeding that message, "but lone those are bushed who are not astatine war, who don't cognize what warfare is, and who person ne'er mislaid his oregon her children."
"If we bash not basal firm, helium volition beforehand further," Zelenskyy reiterated successful an interrogation with 60 Minutes conscionable this month. "It is not conscionable idle speculation; the menace is real. Putin's eventual extremity is to revive the Russian empire and reclaim territories presently nether NATO protection. Considering each of this, I judge it could escalate into a satellite war."
Trump says "we person a minerals deal" with Ukraine
Rubio's comments connected Friday came hours aft the U.S. and Ukraine seemingly neared a long-delayed woody to assistance U.S. entree to Ukraine's immense mineral resources, which has been intertwined with President Trump's bid push.
"We person a minerals deal,'' Mr. Trump said Thursday, and Ukraine's system curate said Friday that the 2 countries had signed a memorandum of intent up of a imaginable fuller statement later.
The deal, which Ukrainian Economy Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko said she signed with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, is expected to pave the mode for important investments, infrastructure modernization and semipermanent cooperation.
Work toward the mineral woody had stalled successful February pursuing a contentious Oval Office meeting betwixt Mr. Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Negotiations person since resumed.
Rubio connected the dialog with Russia, and Europe
Despite evident increasing U.S. impatience with the bid efforts, Rubio called Thursday's Paris talks constructive. "Nobody rejected anything, cipher got up from the array oregon walked away."
Rubio didn't azygous retired Russia oregon Ukraine arsenic blocking bid efforts. He said helium informed Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov astir the outlines that emerged erstwhile they spoke aft the Paris talks, but wouldn't accidental however Lavrov reacted.
U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff (second from left), Secretary of State Marco Rubio (center), U.S. Special Envoy Keith Kellogg and Germany's nationalist information advisor Jens Ploetner (second from right) be a gathering with French officials astatine the Elysee statesmanlike palace successful Paris, April 17, 2025.
LUDOVIC MARIN/POOL/AFP/Getty
When asked astir Rubio's comments connected Friday, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters that "fairly complex" negotiations were ongoing betwixt Russia and the U.S. He did not springiness details but said nary nonstop talks betwixt Mr. Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin were scheduled successful the coming days.
"Russia is striving toward resolving this conflict, securing its ain interests, and is unfastened to dialogue. We are continuing to bash this," helium said.
In its readout connected the telephone with Rubio, the Kremlin said Lavrov had confirmed Moscow's "readiness to proceed moving unneurotic with American colleagues to reliably destruct the basal causes of the Ukrainian crisis."
Putin and his deputies person consistently claimed those basal causes are Zelenskyy's actions and NATO's eastward enlargement — misleading narratives that Mr. Trump himself has astatine times espoused astir the full-scale penetration Putin launched connected Feb. 24, 2022.
After weeks of hostility with European allies, Rubio told reporters successful Paris that the European negotiators proved helpful. "The U.K. and France and Germany tin assistance america determination the shot connected this."
During a gathering connected Friday with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni successful Rome, Vice President JD Vance besides spoke astir the ongoing negotiations with Ukraine and Russia, saying helium wouldn't "pre-judge them, but we consciousness optimistic that we tin hopefully bring this war, this precise brutal warfare to a close."
European concerns are growing, however, astir Mr. Trump's readiness to gully person to Russia. These talks were the archetypal clip since his inauguration that apical American, Ukrainian and European officials met to sermon an extremity to the war, which has posed the biggest information situation to Europe since World War II.
The meetings addressed hypothetical information guarantees for Ukraine successful the future, but Rubio wouldn't sermon immoderate imaginable U.S. relation successful that. Some benignant of U.S. enactment for Ukraine is seen arsenic important to ensuring that Russia would not onslaught again if and erstwhile a bid woody is reached.
Rubio and statesmanlike envoy Steve Witkoff person helped pb U.S. efforts to question peace, and Witkoff has met 3 times with Putin, Rubio said. Several rounds of negotiations person been held successful Saudi Arabia.
Moscow has efficaciously refused to judge a broad ceasefire that Mr. Trump has pushed and Ukraine has endorsed. Russia has made it conditional connected a halt successful Ukraine's mobilization efforts and Western arms supplies, which are demands rejected by Ukraine.
Deadly Russian strikes connected Ukraine continue
Russia, meanwhile, has kept up a bid of deadly strikes connected Ukrainian cities, according to officials there, wounding scores of civilians days aft missiles killed astatine slightest 34 during Palm Sunday celebrations successful the bluish metropolis of Sumy.
One idiosyncratic died and 103 others, including 8 children, were wounded arsenic Russia deed Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, aboriginal connected Friday, its politician Ihor Terekhov reported. He said clump munitions struck a "densely populated" vicinity 4 times.
An aged pistillate stands successful beforehand of a residential gathering damaged by a Russian rocket attack, April 18, 2025, successful Kharkiv, Ukraine. Almost 100 radical were wounded and 1 killed successful the Russian attack, which utilized 3 Iskander-M ballistic missiles with clump munitions, Ukrainian officials said.
Viktoriia Yakymenko/Suspilne Ukraine/JSC "UA:PBC"/Global Images Ukraine/Getty
Russian drones besides targeted a bakery successful Sumy, little than a week aft the deadly Palm Sunday onslaught there, sidesplitting a lawsuit and wounding an employee, the determination prosecutor's bureau said. Photos released by the bureau showed rows of Easter cakes stacked wrong a devastated building, covered successful heavy dust, arsenic a immense spread gaped successful the partition down them and rubble piled up connected the floor.
Last Sunday's onslaught connected Sumy, resulting successful wide casualties, was the 2nd large-scale rocket onslaught to assertion civilian lives successful conscionable implicit a week. Some 20 people, including 9 children, died connected April 4 arsenic missiles struck Zelenskyy's hometown of Kryvyi Rih.
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