The United States has decided to reduce its moderating efforts in talks for a ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia, the State Department announced.State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce told reporters on Thursday that the Trump administration was changing “the methodology of how we contribute” to peace talks.
"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, and now – 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," Bruce said during a press conference with reporters.
She added that US President Donald Trump was aware that "there is another part of the world, a whole globe that needs some attention."
Ukraine-Russia war will not end 'any time soon'
This comes after various senior levels of the Trump administration, including the president, warned that American negotiators would walk away from the table if they felt that progress was not being made.
Vice President JD Vance said in a Wednesday interview with Fox News that he did not believe that the three-year old conflict would end "any time soon."
He added that it is "going to be up to the Russians and Ukrainians now that each side knows what the other's terms for peace are. It's going to be up to them to come to an agreement and stop this brutal, brutal conflict."
Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters that the US could not continue to dedicate its resources to talks that would not succeed.
"We cannot continue to dedicate time and resources to this effort if it's not going to come to fruition," Rubio told NBC's Meet the Press program.
At the end of April, Trump decried Russian strikes on Kyiv as unnecessary.
"Vladimir, STOP!" he wrote on Truth Social "I am not happy with the Russian strikes on KYIV. Not necessary, and very bad timing."
He had previously stated that he would walk away from negotiating efforts between the two parties.
"If one of the two parties makes it very difficult, we're just going to say: 'you're foolish, you're fools, you're horrible people,' and we're just going to take a pass."
Rubio stated on Friday that he thought that the two sides were closer to an agreement in a Fox News interview.
"I think we know where Ukraine is, and we know where Russia is right now... They're closer, but they're still far apart."