Rubio warns Russia and Ukraine if there’s no peace deal this week, the White House may move on

Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned Russia and Ukraine this is a ‘critical week’ and if there’s no sign of a peace deal, President Donald Trump’s administration may move on.

‘I think this is going to be a very critical week,’ he told NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday. 

‘This week is going to be a really important week in which we have to make a determination about whether this is an endeavor that we want to continue to be involved in, or if it’s time to sort of focus on some other issues that are equally, if not more, important.’

His comments came the day after President Trump met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the Vatican ahead of Pope Francis’ funeral. Trump has shown impatience recently with Russian President Vladimir Putin and his continued bombardment of Ukraine.

Rubio noted the clock was ticking. The Trump administration hits the 100 day mark next week and the president would like a peace deal to be part of his accomplishments.

‘The president has dedicated a tremendous amount of time and energy to this, and we think we brought the sides closer than they’ve been in a very long time. But we’re not there yet, and it needs to start happening,’ the secretary of state said.

He said of the talks: ‘We’re close, but we’re not close enough.’ 

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the clock is ticking for a Ukraine-Russian peace deal

The Trump administration has been pushing Ukraine to accept a peace plan that would end Kyiv’s desire to join NATO and give Crimea to Russia. Zelensky has called that a non-starter.

But Trump also has questioned why Putin would continue to bomb Ukraine as the U.S. is trying to broker a deal that many see as favoring the Kremlin.

‘It makes me think that maybe he doesn’t want to stop the war, he’s just tapping me along,’ Trump wrote on Truth Social of Putin after meeting with Zelensky.

The Russians shrugged off American impatience.

‘We understand the impatience, because in American culture, you create expectations, and you ignite tension around those expectations,’ Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told CBS’s Face the Nation.

‘This does not help to do realpolitik. But in our case, as I said, we are always ready for dialogue, ready for negotiations, and we would not, you know, begin by banking on a failure. This would be a characteristic of bad deal makers, inexperienced deal makers.’

While Trump was with Zelensky in Rome, his envoy Steve Witkoff was in Moscow meeting with Russian officials. 

Zelensky described his meeting with Trump in positive terms.

The meeting was the first face-to-face encounter between Trump and Zelenskiy since an Oval Office meeting in February that turned into a shouting match. 

But the Ukrainian president said Saturday’s meeting has ‘potential to become historic.’

‘We discussed a lot one on one. Hoping for results on everything we covered. Protecting lives of our people. Full and unconditional ceasefire. Reliable and lasting peace that will prevent another war from breaking out. Very symbolic meeting that has potential to become historic, if we achieve joint results. Thank you @POTUS,’ he wrote on social media.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky (right) meets with US President Donald Trump (left) at St Peter’s Basilica on Saturday

President Trump is showing impatience with Russian President Vladimir Putin (pictured)

Trump had previously warned both sides his administration would walk away from its efforts to achieve a peace if the two sides do not agree a deal soon.

He has taken a tough stand with both leaders, taking to social media earlier this week to write ‘Vladimir STOP’ as the Russian president dropped bombs on Kyiv.

He has threatened Zelensky that he will withdraw all U.S. support. 

Rubio noted that the ‘only solution’ for a peace deal is where Russia and Ukraine both ‘give up something.’

‘There is no military solution to this war,’ Rubio said Sunday. ‘The only solution to this war is a negotiated settlement where both sides are going to have to give up something they claim to want, and are going to have to give the other side something they wish they didn’t.’

‘That’s how you end wars, and that’s what we’re trying to achieve here so more people won’t die,’ he added. 

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