Donald Trump says he backs Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s warning that the US is ready to ‘move on’ from peace talks, but says he remains ‘hopeful’ that a deal can be secured, ITV News Correspondent Martha Fairlie reports
President Donald Trump has said negotiations between Ukraine and Russia are “coming to a head” and insisted that neither side is “playing” him.
It follows comments by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who said the US may be ready to “move on” from efforts to secure a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine if progress is not made within the coming days.
Trump told reporters on Friday that he backed Rubio’s remarks but that he remained “hopeful” that a peace deal could be reached.
“Now, if for some reason, one of the two parties makes it very difficult, we’re just going to say you’re foolish. You are fools, you horrible people,” he said.
“And we’re going to just take a pass. But hopefully, we won’t have to do that.”
Russia launched eight missiles and 87 drones in an overnight attack on Ukraine on Saturday, causing damage in five regions across the country, the Ukrainian air force said.
Air defence units shot down 33 Russian drones, and another 36 drones were redirected by electronic warfare, the Ukrainian air force said. It gave no details on the missiles.
Earlier on Friday, Rubio gave a dour assessments on the state of negotiations following landmark talks in Paris among US, Ukrainian and European officials, which produced outlines for steps towards peace.
Another meeting is expected next week in London, and Rubio suggested it 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 possible or not,” Rubio told reporters in Paris.
“Because if it’s not, then I think we’re just going to move on. It’s not our war. We have other priorities to focus on”, adding that the US administration wants to decide “in a matter of days”.
The State Department said Rubio issued the same warning in a phone call Friday with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, telling him that “if a clear path to peace does not emerge soon, the United States will step back from efforts to broker peace”.
Trump said “Marco is right” that the dynamic of the negotiations must change, but stopped short of saying he’s ready to walk away from peace negotiations.
“Well, I don’t want to say that,” Trump said. “But we want to see it end.”
Coming out of the Paris talks, the Americans are ready to use both carrot and stick strategies with Russia and understand the need for ″a relationship of force that allows them to get commitments from both sides,” according to a French diplomatic official.
The Americans and Europeans discussed sanctions but ″not the question of easing sanctions” on Russia. The official told the Associated Press that the European Union needs to use ″all instruments at our disposition,” notably to have levers of influence over the Russians to ensure they commit to eventual promises.
US Vice President JD Vance struck a more hopeful tone in Rome on Friday, ahead of talks with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
“We think we have some interesting things to report on, of course in private,” he said. On the negotiations, “I won’t prejudge them, but we do feel optimistic that we can hopefully bring this war, this very brutal war, to a close.”
The meetings come as Europe’s concerns grow about Trump drawing closer to Russia.
Moscow has refused to accept a comprehensive ceasefire that Trump has pushed and Ukraine has endorsed despite several rounds of negotiations in Saudi Arabia between Rubio and US envoy Steve Witkoff.
When asked about Rubio’s comments on Friday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that “fairly complex” negotiations are ongoing between Russia and the US He did not give details, but said 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 said.
Peskov also stressed that a limited, 30-day ceasefire backed by Washington that both Russia and Ukraine last month embraced in principle has now lapsed, but did not say what steps Moscow might take next.
While voicing their readiness to implement the agreement, the warring parties issued conflicting statements soon after their separate talks with US officials in Saudi Arabia. They differed on the start time of halting strikes, and alleged near-immediate breaches by the other side.
Progress made on minerals deal
While the prospect of a halt to fighting remains uncertain, the US and Ukraine are nearing a long-delayed deal granting the US access to Ukraine’s vast mineral resources, which has been intertwined with Trump’s peace push.
Trump said on Thursday: “We have a minerals deal.”
Ukraine’s economy minister Yuliia Svyrydenko said on Friday that the two countries signed a memorandum of intent ahead of a possible fuller agreement later.
The deal, which Svyrydenko said she signed with US treasury secretary Scott Bessent, is expected to pave the way for significant investments, infrastructure modernisation and long-term cooperation.
The framework of the mineral deal had stalled in February following a heated Oval Office meeting between Trump, Vance and Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, but negotiations have since resumed.
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