With the goal of reaching a truce in Ukraine by Easter now gone up in smoke , the United States is making it clear that its patience has a limit . And that if the negotiations between the Russians and the Ukrainians are not unblocked somehow - whatever the cost - they are ready to withdraw from the negotiations: "If either side behaves stupidly, we are ready to walk away from the negotiating table," threatened Donald Trump, giving support to his Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who a few hours earlier from Paris had underlined the need for Washington to "evaluate in the coming days whether peace is feasible or not." And "if it is not possible, we must move forward" and "turn the page." Because "it is not our war" and " the United States has other priorities ."
"If a truce is not possible , if we are so far away, then I think the president will probably have reached the point where he will say that we are done," the head of American diplomacy reiterated. Yet, as has often happened in these few months of the tycoon's second term, the signals from Washington are contradictory: Trump said he is convinced that Russia is not "taking the mickey out of him," while in Rome, US Vice President JD Vance expressed "optimism" about the path towards a truce. The Kremlin also spoke of "progress," recognizing however that the negotiations remain "complicated" and the negotiations "difficult." In fact, while Kiev has accepted the proposal for a total 30-day ceasefire, it is Moscow that shows no intention of accepting the truce. Yet, the US plan seems to be particularly advantageous for the Kremlin. According to Bloomberg, citing European sources, the Americans presented their vision for ending the conflict in Ukraine during meetings in Paris on Thursday: the proposal would effectively freeze the war, with Ukrainian territories now occupied by Russia remaining under Moscow's control.
Kiev's aspirations to join NATO would also be off the table, while a relaxation of sanctions against Moscow is on the table. One of the sources said the plans, which need to be further discussed with Kiev, would not lead to a final agreement and that the European allies would not recognize the occupied territories as Russian. Officials stressed that the talks would then be futile if the Kremlin did not agree to end the fighting. And that it remained essential to provide Ukraine with security guarantees to ensure any agreement would hold. US officials have indicated they want to reach a full ceasefire within weeks. But the road remains uphill, judging first and foremost by Putin's position, who not only has not shown any openness towards a cessation of hostilities, but has threatened to officially resume raids on energy infrastructure with the truce now "expired", according to spokesman Peskov. On the other side of the front, President Zelensky continues to accuse the US - and in particular the envoy Witkoff - of embracing the Russian narrative on the war, proposing to Kiev to forget about the occupied territories. But in the meantime, he seems ready to sign the long-awaited agreement on minerals: Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal will travel to Washington next week to negotiate the agreement, with the aim of concluding the talks by Saturday 26 April. The coming weeks will be crucial to understand the fate of the American diplomatic initiative for the truce in Ukraine, the most concrete and constructive so far in over three years of war. At present, it is difficult to imagine an alternative: from Paris, Rubio said that the United Kingdom, France and Germany could "help bring us closer to the resolution" of the Ukrainian conflict. But a European-led initiative would be impossible for Moscow to accept, which considers the Europeans involved in the war and engaged in "calls for militarization", and not for peace. Meanwhile, people continue to die in Ukraine, where not even the Easter holidays spare civilians from bombs: in the last day, the raids hit again in Sumy and also in Kharkiv, where they caused one death and 70 injuries, including five children. "This is how Russia started this Good Friday: with ballistics, cruise missiles, "shahed" drones. And the mockery of our people and our cities," Zelensky attacked.
(Online Union)
