US says it will no longer mediate in Russia-Ukraine peace talks as Washington vows to stop flying to meetings and pushes both sides to deliver ‘concrete ideas’ to end war

Washington has said it will no longer mediate peace negotiations between Ukraine and Russia after despot Vladimir Putin refused to sign a ceasefire deal.

State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said last night that the US will be changing ‘the methodology of how we contribute… in that we will not be the mediators.’

‘But we are not going to fly around the world at the drop of a hat to mediate meetings, that it is now between the two parties,’ the former Fox News host added.

‘Now is the time that they need to present and develop concrete ideas about how this conflict is going to end. It’s going to be up to them.’ 

The day before the announcement, Trump approved his administration’s first arms export to Kyiv. 

He informed Congress that he would approve exporting at least $50million (£38million) in arms to Ukraine. 

This is the first time the president has approved an export deal since taking office in January, and came just a few weeks after the US put all military aid being sent to Ukraine under review. 

It comes just days after Ukraine signed a major minerals deal with the US.  

Donald Trump’s (pictured alongside Volodymyr Zelensky) administration has revealed it is pulling out of peace negotiations between Ukraine and Russia

A Ukrainian tank crew of the 33rd Separate Mechanized Brigade fire a round from a Leopard 2A4 tank during a field training exercise at an undisclosed location in Ukraine, on April 30, 2025

Rescuers work at the site of an apartment building hit by a Russian drone strike, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine May 1, 2025

Despot Vladimir Putin (pictured, right) refused to sign a ceasefire deal with Ukraine

The agreement, which is yet to be approved by the Ukrainian Parliament, is considerably less exploitative than the initial deal proposed by US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent earlier this year, but will still see Washington profit extensively from Ukrainian natural resources.

It was hoped the US commitment to invest in Ukrainian infrastructure could facilitate ceasefire negotiations as Bessent said the agreement will show the ‘Russian leadership that there is no daylight between the Ukrainian people and the American people, between our goals’. 

Bessent said prior to the US’ decision to pull out of its mediating role that the signing of the deal ‘signals clearly to Russia that the Trump administration is committed to a peace process centred on a free, sovereign, and prosperous Ukraine over the long term’.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, meanwhile, declared that the signing of the minerals deal was the ‘first result’ of the meeting he had with Trump at the Vatican during the pope’s funeral and called the agreement ‘truly historic’.

Last night, US Vice President JD Vance declared he doesn’t see an end to the Russia-Ukraine war ‘any time soon’ as Secretary for State Marco Rubio admitted Donald Trump needs to find a breakthrough quickly in ceasefire negotiations. 

‘It’s going to be up to them to come to an agreement and stop this brutal, brutal conflict,’ Vance said in an interview on Fox News with host Bret Baier.

‘It’s not going anywhere, Bret. It’s not going to end any time soon.’

He went on to admit that it was difficult to be confident that an end to the war was in sight, because the Russians and Ukrainians ‘have to take the final step’ and ‘come to their senses’, before trivialising Russia’s invasion of its sovereign neighbour.

‘For the Ukrainians, yes, of course they are angry that they were invaded, but are we going to continue to lose thousands and thousands of soldiers over a few miles of territory this or that way?’ Vance said. 

US Vice President JD Vance has declared he doesn’t see an end to the Russia-Ukraine war ‘any time soon’

Firefighters put out the fire at an apartment house following Russia’s air raid in Odesa, Ukraine, Thursday, May 1, 2025

Russia said on Friday its forces were continuing to create a ‘security strip’ in border areas of Ukraine’s Sumy region after driving Ukrainian troops out of the Kursk region, just across the border in western Russia.

Ukraine says its forces still have a foothold in Kursk, where it staged an incursion in August to try to distract Russian forces and win leverage in any future peace talks, but that it is concerned about a possible Russian advance into Sumy.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said in March that Russia should look to create a buffer zone in the Sumy region to guard against any future potential Ukrainian incursions.

‘Units of the North group of forces have completed the rout of Ukrainian Armed Forces formations in the Kursk region,’ the Russian defence ministry said in a statement.

‘The creation of a ‘security strip’ in the border areas of Ukraine’s Sumy region continues.’

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