Rubio: US Ready to 'Move on' From Ukraine Peace Deal

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Friday that the US may be ready to "move on" from efforts for a Russia-Ukraine peace deal if there is not progress in the coming days. Speaking in Paris after a marathon day of landmark talks among US, Ukrainian, and European officials, Rubio said the discussions had been constructive and produced an outline for steps toward peace. "We're not going to continue with this endeavor for weeks and months on end," Rubio said, per the BBC. The US, he said, has "other priorities to focus on."

• After weeks of efforts by the Trump administration to broker a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine have failed to bring an end to the fighting, Rubio said the US administration wants to decide "in a matter of days whether or not this is doable in the next few weeks," the AP reports.
• "The president has spent 87 days at the highest level of his government repeatedly taking efforts to bring this war to an end," Rubio said, per the Washington Post. "We are now reaching a point where we need to decide and determine whether this is even possible or not, which is why we're engaging both sides."

• The high-level talks hosted by France on Thursday were the first time since President Trump's inauguration that top American, Ukrainian, and European officials are known to have met together to discuss an end to the war. French officials said a new meeting in the same format is expected in London in the coming days. Rubio said he could join that meeting, expected early in the week.
• Rubio and presidential envoy Steve Witkoff have helped lead US efforts to seek peace. Several rounds of negotiations have been held in Saudi Arabia. Witkoff has met three times with Vladimir Putin, Rubio said.
• Moscow has effectively refused to accept a comprehensive ceasefire that Trump has pushed and Ukraine has endorsed. Russia has made it conditional on a halt in Ukraine's mobilization efforts and Western arms supplies, which are demands rejected by Ukraine.
• At least two people were killed and dozens injured in Russian attacks on Ukrainian cities overnight, the Telegraph reports. "This is how Russia began this Good Friday—with ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, Shaheds—maiming our people and cities," Volodymyr Zelensky said.

(More Russia-Ukraine war stories.)