According to spokeswoman Tammy Bruce, the US won’t be mediating discussions indefinitely.
The US State Department’s Tammy Bruce stated in a Fox News interview on Saturday that Washington has done all it can to get Moscow and Kiev to the negotiation table, but it will not wait forever for results.
On May 16, Russia and Ukraine had their first direct peace talks in three years in Istanbul, where they decided to submit thorough ceasefire proposals. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov suggested holding a second round of discussions in Istanbul on June 2 earlier this week, but Kiev has not yet confirmed whether it will attend.
Bruce responded to a question about whether the US had established a firm timeline for the peace process by saying, “This is not a long-term thing. This is not simply standard operating procedure. It’s not going to go on for months or years,”
She added, “We have gotten people to the table, and they know what we are requiring. But it’s really up to them,”
US President Donald Trump has previously cautioned that he would abandon the process if no progress is achieved. He also threatened to slap new sanctions on Moscow if it does not reach an agreement with Kiev. Trump told reporters in April, “Now, if for some reason 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 going to just take a pass,”
Moscow has refuted claims that it is delaying the talks, stating that it plans to provide a paper outlining its conditions at the next meeting. Russian diplomats have also accused Kiev of deceiving Washington and “playing games” rather than negotiating in good faith.
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