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Rubio suggests US may withdraw from peace talks in Ukraine if it finds them impossible
Rubio arrived in Paris on Thursday (17 April) to take part in the first discussions on Ukraine between Americans, Europeans, and Ukrainians at a time when the Washington-initiated ceasefire talks have stalled and Europeans are trying to make their voices heard.
He said on Friday (18 April) that it was necessary to determine in "a matter of days" whether peace in Ukraine was possible, stressing that the United States had other priorities, following meetings in Paris between Americans, Europeans and Ukrainians.
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Bloomberg: US wants to achieve ceasefire in Ukraine in coming weeks
US officials attending a meeting in Paris have told their European counterparts that they intend to push for a complete cessation of combat actions in Ukraine in the coming weeks as part of a new diplomatic effort.
Source: Bloomberg, as reported by European Pravda
Details: Talks were held in Paris on 17 April, with the main topics discussed being- the early achievement of a ceasefire in Ukraine and
- the establishment of a lasting peace.
The meeting was attended by French President Emmanuel Macron, US Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff and representatives of the Ukrainian side. Bloomberg was informed of this by sources familiar with the discussions who wished to remain anonymous.
According to these sources, the negotiators expressed support for Donald Trump's key foreign policy priority of ending the war as soon as possible.
- All parties to the meeting agreed to strengthen coordination to achieve this goal.
- In addition, the European representatives expressed interest in Washington's intentions if the Kremlin does not make concessions.
- They also sought to persuade the US to take a tougher stance against Russia, including the possibility of a robust package of sanctions which, according to them, Donald Trump had already considered.
Background:
- The day after the Paris meetings, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the US was ready to abandon efforts to achieve peace in Ukraine if it saw that this goal was unattainable.
- Earlier, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot called the meetings in Paris on Thursday 17 April a diplomatic success for France which had brought Americans, Europeans and Ukrainians together at the same table.
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ISW: Kremlin trying to push Europe to withdraw from helping Ukraine
Analysts at the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) have pointed out that the Russian authorities are trying to make European assistance to Ukraine look provocative and force Europe to refrain from supporting it.
Source: ISW
Details: The Kremlin is using increasingly threatening rhetoric against Europe to discourage it from supporting Ukraine and defending itself.
On 17 April, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova warned that Russia would consider any missile strike by German Taurus missiles against Russia as Germany's direct involvement in the war.
- Zakharova also threatened Estonia, echoing a recent threat by Russian Foreign Intelligence Service chief Sergei Naryshkin that Poland and the Baltic states would be the first to suffer in the event of "NATO aggression" against Russia or Belarus.
- Analysts pointed out that the Kremlin had repeatedly used similar threats against Western powers that provide military assistance to Ukraine to influence Western decision-making and deter aid to Kyiv, including almost identical threats against the United States for allowing Ukraine to strike Russia with ATACMS.
Quote: "The Kremlin likely seeks to portray European efforts to augment both European and Ukrainian defensive capabilities as provocative in order to push European countries into self-deterring from providing Ukraine with additional military support and bolstering European defensive capabilities."
To quote the ISW"s Key Takeaways on 17 April:
- Russian officials continue to reiterate Russian President Vladimir Putin's non-negotiable demands for extensive territorial concessions from Ukraine while noting that ongoing peace negotiations are unlikely to achieve results quickly.[NB: Ukrainska Pravda does not recognise Putin as Russian president – ed.]
- Russian forces recently conducted a roughly battalion-sized mechanised assault across a wide front in western Zaporizhzhia Oblast, representing an inflection in recently observed Russian mechanised assault tactics.
- The Kremlin is adopting increasingly threatening rhetoric towards Europe aimed at preventing Europe from supporting Ukraine and defending itself.
- Russia is increasingly adapting its drones to facilitate chemical weapons strikes against the frontline and rear areas of Ukraine – in violation of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), of which Russia is a signatory.
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reported that the United States and Ukraine are making progress towards signing a bilateral mineral deal.
- European countries continue to increase their domestic defence production, including in support of Ukraine.
- Ukrainian forces recently advanced near Toretsk. Russian forces recently advanced in Kursk Oblast and near Kupiansk, Toretsk, Pokrovsk, Novopavlivka and Velyka Novosilka and in western Zaporizhzhia Oblast.
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