Trump warns of withdrawal from Ukraine talks if sabotaged
Donald Trump said the US would withdraw from talks on Ukraine if one of the parties 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 will withdraw from the negotiation process on Ukraine if one of the parties sabotages the process.
"If for some reason either side becomes too much of a barrier to this, we'll just say, 'You're stupid, you're terrible,' and we'll walk away. But hopefully we won't have to do that," President Trump said.
Asked whether Washington would stop providing military aid to Kiev if the US pulled out of peace talks, President Trump said he did not want to say that.
"I believe we will be able to reach a solution to the conflict," the US leader noted.
Mr. Trump made it clear that the US did not set a specific deadline to reach a clear agreement regarding Ukraine, but "wanted to reach an agreement quickly."
Axios quoted European officials as saying on April 19 that US threats to withdraw from the Ukraine negotiations were more likely aimed at Kiev than Moscow.
Axios pointed out that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio had previously conveyed to European officials on April 17 at a meeting on Ukraine in Paris that President Donald Trump's patience was running out and he could soon announce that Washington was withdrawing from the negotiation process to resolve the conflict in Ukraine. And then a day later, Mr. Trump announced this.
According to Axios, three European diplomats said Mr. Rubio's comments were mainly aimed at putting pressure on Ukraine, and were not about 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 halt attacks on energy facilities in Russia and Ukraine.
The one-month deadline for the agreement has now expired. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stressed that Kiev has in fact not participated in the agreement and the Ukrainian Armed Forces continue to raid Russian energy facilities.
The Russian president’s press secretary clarified that Mr Putin had not given any further instructions on the matter and that there had been some progress in the Ukraine talks on the ceasefire. However, Mr Peskov added that there were still many discussions ahead.
