
Rubio tells Russia the clock is ticking while allies doubt Putin wants peace in Ukraine
CNN
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio revealed on Friday that he had met with an envoy for President Vladimir Putin this week and sent him back to Moscow with a message: the clock is ticking on when there needs to be a breakthrough in the peace talks to end the Ukraine war.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio revealed on Friday that he had met with an envoy for President Vladimir Putin this week and sent him back to Moscow with a message: the clock is ticking on when there needs to be a breakthrough in the peace talks to end the Ukraine war. “That time is coming,” Rubio said, “It’s pretty short.” Within weeks, Rubio said at the end of the two-day NATO foreign ministers meeting in Brussels, the US wants to see concrete steps and “at some point it will be clear whether you [Russia] want peace or you don’t want peace.” It wasn’t a threat, Rubio insisted, but it underscored where the Trump administration’s thinking is. In the past week, President Donald Trump’s frustration with his Russian counterpart has become clear. Trump said he was recently “pissed off” on a recent call with the Russian leader, who rejected Trump’s proposal for a full and immediate ceasefire in Ukraine. Ukrainian and European leaders have made clear they believe Putin is stalling, believing time is on his side, while Trump and his envoy Steve Witkoff – who has met Putin twice this year – have insisted Putin does want a peace deal.

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