Ukraine War: USA threaten to withdraw from mediations

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has threatened to end the US mediation efforts in the Ukraine War. Russia and Ukraine would have to put “concrete suggestions” on the table for an end to the war, said Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Tammy Bruce on Tuesday. If there is still “no progress”, “we will withdraw in this process as an intermediary.” Meanwhile, Ukrainian authorities reported at least one other fatalities in Russian attacks.

The United States has so far been unsuccessful to agree on an ceasefire in the war against Ukraine, which started by Russia over three years ago. US President Donald Trump had started his office in January with the announcement to end the war within 24 hours.

Foreign spokeswoman Bruce continued on Tuesday that the decision about whether the United States continued its diplomatic efforts was ultimately with Trump.

The Russian ambassador at the United Nations, Wassily Nagger, said that Russia will continue to speak to the United States, but the Ukrainian President Wolodymyr Selenskyj was “to be escalating the conflict”. “He irresponsibly rejects the balanced peace suggestions of the United States,” said Nunsia at a meeting of the UN Security Council.

The US diplomat John Kelley emphasized that both sides would benefit from the US proposal to a ceasefire in the Ukraine War. He also condemned Russia’s attacks on Ukraine. “Russia now has a great way to achieve permanent peace,” said Kelley in the UN Security Council.

Rubio had already indicated a possible withdrawal from the negotiations on Sunday. The efforts for a ceasefire in Ukraine would be “very decisive week,” he said. The US government faces a decision about “whether this is an effort in which we want to continue to be involved, or whether it is time to concentrate on other topics that are just as important or even more important,” added the Foreign Minister.

The biggest argument in conversations about a possible ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine was the Crimea, which was annexed by Moscow in 2014. So far, Kyiv rules out the peninsula in the course of an agreement to Moscow. However, Trump had said in an interview published on Friday that the Crimea “stays with Russia” and added: “And Selenskyj understands that.” Russia also claims four other Ukrainian regions. The Russian army holds around 20 percent of the Ukrainian territory.

Russian President Vladimir Putin had proposed a three -day ceasefire around the celebrations in Moscow on Monday on the 80th anniversary of the Second World War. However, the US government rejected this. Washington “does not want a three-day moment so that you can celebrate something else,” said Ministry spokeswoman Bruce. A “complete, permanent ceasefire and an end to the conflict” is necessary.

Selenskyj again called for a “unconditional and complete ceasefire” as the first step of Russia on Tuesday. Moscow had to take “clear steps” towards an end of the war. “We all want this war to end – without rewards for (Russia’s President Vladimir) Putin, especially no country,” said Selenskyj via video count at a summit of regional states.

Meanwhile, regional authorities in Ukraine reported other victims through Russian attacks. At least one person was killed in the Central Lucrainian city of Dnipro, as the governor of the Dnipropetrovsk, Serhij Lysak, affected by Dnipropetrowsk, announced on Wednesday in the Telegram online service. In addition, the northeastern city of Charkiw was attacked 16 times, as Mayor Igor Terechow announced. 39 people were injured.

In the Russian border region of Kursk, three people were injured in drone attacks near the city of Rylsk, two of whom were hospitalized, as the region’s interim player explained. The Russian army had said last weekend that it fully recaptured the border region from the Ukrainian armed forces, which the Ukrainian army contested.