Trump warns he will withdraw from Ukraine talks if they are sabotaged.
Donald Trump said the U.S. would withdraw from negotiations on Ukraine if either party sabotaged them.
According to RIA Novosti, speaking at a ceremony at the White House on April 18 (Washington time), US President Donald Trump said that the US would withdraw from the negotiations on Ukraine if any of the parties sabotaged the process.
"If for some reason either side becomes too much of an obstacle to this, we'll just say, 'You're stupid, you're terrible,' and we'll leave. But hopefully, we won't have to," President Trump shared.
When asked whether Washington would stop providing military aid to Kyiv if the U.S. withdrew from peace talks, President Trump said he didn't want to say that.
"I believe we will be able to reach a solution to the conflict," the American leader noted.
Mr. Trump clarified that the U.S. is not setting a specific deadline for reaching a clear agreement regarding Ukraine, but "wants to reach an agreement quickly."
According to Axios, citing European officials, the US threats to withdraw from the Ukraine negotiations are more likely aimed at Kyiv than Moscow.
Axios points out that earlier, on April 17th, at a meeting on Ukraine in Paris, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio conveyed to European officials that President Donald Trump's patience was running out and he might soon announce Washington's withdrawal from the negotiations to resolve the conflict in Ukraine. And then, the following day, Trump announced this.
According to Axios, three European diplomats said Rubio's comments were primarily aimed at putting pressure on Ukraine, and did not address increasing pressure on Russia in Paris.
On March 24, a technical meeting of delegations from Russia and the United States took place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. At the meeting, the parties agreed to temporarily halt attacks on energy facilities in Russia and Ukraine.
The one-month deadline of the agreement has now expired. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov emphasized that, in fact, Kyiv did not participate in the agreement reached and the Ukrainian armed forces continued to raid Russian energy facilities.
The Russian president's press secretary clarified that Putin had not issued any further instructions on the matter and that some progress had been made in negotiations on Ukraine regarding the ceasefire. However, Peskov added that further discussions remain.
