[Text/Watchman Network Shao Yun]

Comprehensive reports from Reuters, CNN and others on the 18th stated that when US Secretary of State Rubio was about to conclude his visit to Paris, France, he said that if there were no signs of Russia and Ukraine reaching a ceasefire agreement in the near future, US President Trump would give up continuing to mediate this agreement.

"We will not continue this work for weeks or months. So we need to determine as soon as possible - I mean within days - whether it is possible to reach an agreement in the coming weeks. If so, we will continue. If not, we have other priorities to focus on." Rubio said.

The day before (on the 17th), the US and Ukrainian delegations held talks in Paris in the presence of representatives from France, Britain, and Germany. Rubio said on the 18th that this trip was to discuss more specific measures needed to achieve a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine. "The president has spent 87 days at the highest levels of the government repeatedly trying to end this conflict. Now we are at the moment to decide whether this is possible."

According to Rubio, Trump still has an interest in mediating a peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine, "but there are many other really important things going on that deserve our equal or even more attention." He indicated that the US side hopes to see the negotiating parties narrowing their differences and making progress within the expected time frame, which will motivate them to continue the negotiations.

"If the gap between us is too wide to end the conflict, then I think the president has likely reached a point where he may say 'we're done'."

Rubio also said that although the US has been providing military aid to Ukraine for the past three years, the Russia-Ukraine conflict has nothing to do with the US. "We did not provoke this conflict..." he said, "We want it to end, but it is not our conflict."

On April 17, 2025, in Paris, France, (from left) Director of the German Foreign Ministry Saht, French Foreign Minister Barro, British Foreign Secretary Lamie, and US Secretary of State Rubio met to discuss issues such as the Ukraine situation. Visual China

Reuters analysis shows that Rubio's remarks indicate that the White House is increasingly dissatisfied with unresolved geopolitical problems over a long period of time.

During his campaign, Trump promised to end the Russia-Ukraine conflict within 24 hours of entering the White House. However, as obstacles increased, he softened this statement after taking office, hinting that an agreement might be reached in April or May. On March 18 and 19, Trump successively spoke with Russian President Putin and Ukrainian President Zelenskyy. Both calls agreed to achieve energy facility ceasefires and expand the ceasefire to the Black Sea as the "first step" to comprehensively end the Ukraine crisis, but there were many differences in the details of the statements by all parties involved.

In response to Trump's 30-day ceasefire initiative, Russia then proposed a series of demands, including effective control of the ceasefire along the entire contact line between Russia and Ukraine, stopping forced mobilization within Ukraine and rearming the Ukrainian armed forces, but these were rejected by Ukraine. On March 30, Trump told the media that he was "very angry" with Putin and threatened that if the failure to reach a ceasefire agreement between Russia and Ukraine was due to Russian reasons, the US might impose a "secondary tariff" on Russian oil buyers.

Until this week, there were indications that the US-Ukraine negotiations seemed to be showing some progress. It was reported that the Paris talks on the 17th were the first substantive high-level face-to-face talks held between the US and Ukraine, as well as European countries, regarding the peace process promoted by Trump. The offices of French President Macron and Zelenskyy both described the talks as "positive and constructive".

According to a statement from the US Department of State on the 17th, after the Paris talks concluded on that day, Rubio called Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov and conveyed the same content as at the Paris talks, including introducing some contents of the US-proposed "lasting peace framework" to Lavrov. According to the US statement, the acceptance of this framework by all parties during the Paris talks was "encouraging".

According to Reuters, Rubio did not disclose any details of the agreement or framework, only stating that his call with Lavrov was "constructive", and that issues related to US security guarantees were mentioned during the Paris talks. He said that the issue of security guarantees could be resolved "in a way acceptable to all parties," but "there are bigger challenges ahead for us to figure out, such as whether it is really possible to reach an agreement in the short term."

Senior French officials revealed that US-Ukraine negotiation representatives will meet again in London next week in the same format. AP reported that Rubio said he would also attend.

It was reported that the US and Ukraine had signed an "intentional memorandum" regarding a mineral agreement on the 17th, and the final agreement text is awaiting final determination and signature by both sides and approval by their respective parliaments, expected to be signed next week. First Deputy Prime Minister and Economic Minister of Ukraine Svirydenko said this paves the way for the US and Ukraine to sign an economic partnership agreement and establish a Ukrainian reconstruction investment fund.

According to Bloomberg, the US government has relaxed its requirements for Ukraine to repay aid funds in the negotiations. The estimated amount of aid funds has been reduced from approximately $300 billion to approximately $10 billion, close to the amount previously announced by Ukraine. The key disagreement remains that the US insists that the future earnings of the joint investment fund established within the framework of the mineral agreement should be prioritized for repaying US aid rather than used for investment in Ukraine, and that the US is unwilling to make new investment commitments until it has fully recovered its aid funds.

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Original source: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7494595736986780171/

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