US President Donald Trump's administration has been putting pressure on Ukraine regarding ending the war but has not spoken about increasing pressure on Russia.

Source: Axios, citing American and European officials familiar with the course of talks

Details: Trump, who previously promised to reach a peace deal within 24 hours of taking office, is now frustrated by the delay in talks and is ready to withdraw the US from its mediating role. In a private conversation, he expressed his disappointment that the talks are not leading anywhere.

According to a well-informed American official, Trump will focus on other areas of foreign policy if a deal is not reached soon.

Trump himself has not yet set a deadline or said whether he will take any further steps beyond exiting the talks.

"We need to figure out... within a matter of days, whether this is doable in the short term," US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said, speaking about ending the war.

"Rubio was not specific about what such a step would look like but only stressed that the U.S. wants fast progress," one European diplomat told Axios.

Two other European diplomats confirmed that "Rubio said Trump was losing his patience and might withdraw from the process if a deal wasn't reached soon".

Three European diplomats believe Rubio's comments were primarily directed at Ukraine. A source close to the Ukrainian government also stated that these remarks were intended to pressure Kyiv. The source also expressed concern that Trump's withdrawal from the talks could lead to a suspension of US military aid to Ukraine.

European diplomats also noted that Rubio had not spoken about increasing pressure on Russia during the Paris meetings. "The impression was that Rubio and Witkoff are under a lot of pressure from Trump and they are channeling it to the other players," one of the European diplomats commented.

Quote: "Ukraine swiftly agreed to Trump's plans for a 30-day ceasefire, but Russia has slow-walked that proposal and argued they are winning on the battlefield and thus have a number of conditions for any peace agreement.

As a result, it's unlikely the Kremlin would have particular concerns about Trump giving up on diplomacy."

Background: 

• On 17 April, a meeting between the Ukrainian delegation and representatives from France, Germany and the United Kingdom took place in Paris. They discussed, among other things, a complete ceasefire, a multinational contingent and security guarantees for Ukraine during the meeting.
• An American delegation, led by Rubio and Steve Witkoff, US President Donald Trump's Special Envoy for the Middle East, also arrived in Paris to take part in the talks.
• On 18 April, Rubio stated that it is necessary to determine in "a matter of days" whether peace in Ukraine is possible, emphasising that the United States has other priorities and that it is ready to abandon efforts to achieve peace in Ukraine if in the coming days it becomes clear that no progress is being made.
• Trump said he might abandon attempts to stop the war between Ukraine and Russia if "one of the two parties makes it [the peace process – ed.] very difficult".

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