US warns it may drop Ukraine-Russia peace efforts. Here is how Kremlin responded

After the United States said that it will move on from the Ukraine-Russia peace deal if no progress is made in the coming days, Kremlin claimed that progress has been been made but contacts were rather complicated with the US.

 

Referring to a temporary halt on strikes against energy infrastructure, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, "We believe that some progress can already be noted. "Russia is committed to resolving this conflict, ensuring its own interests, and is open to dialogue. We continue to do this."

 

"Contacts are quite complicated, because, naturally, the topic is not an easy one,” he added.

 

With concerns growing in Europe, France hosted high-level talks on Thursday – the first meeting among top American, Ukrainian and European officials to chart a path to end the Ukraine-Russia war, since Trump’s inauguration.

 

On Friday after the talks, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio indicated that the US may drop the efforts to broker peace between the warring nations if a deal was not agreed upon soon. “We are not going to continue with this endeavour for weeks and months on end. So, we need to determine very quickly now, and I am talking about a matter of days, whether or not this is doable in the next few weeks,” he told reporters.

 

Rubio and presidential envoy Steve Witkoff have been leading US efforts to get Russia and Ukraine to accept a ceasefire proposal, with several rounds of negotiations being held in Saudi Arabia. But, Russia has so far rejected a comprehensive ceasefire proposed by the US and which Ukraine has endorsed. Instead, it has insisted that Ukraine stop its mobilisation efforts and Western arms supplies first – a demand that the Ukrainians have rejected.

 

During his election campaign, Trump had promised to end the war between Russia and Ukraine within his first 24 hours in the White House. But, on taking office, he extended the deadline to "April or May".

 

Upon his insistence, and because of threats of sanctions on Russia and withdrawal of US military support to Ukraine, the two nations had come to the negotiating table in Saudi Arabia, resulting in a partial and temporary ceasefire.

 

Meanwhile, Russia continued its strikes on Ukrainian cities, with 34 people getting killed during Palm Sunday celebrations in Sumy, and one person dying and over 60 others getting injured in Kharkiv. 

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