THE US has announced it will no longer act as the mediator to negotiate a peace deal after Vladimir Putin refused to accept a full ceasefire.
The United States Department of State said the country is changing “the methodology of how we contribute” to the talks and will no longer “fly around the world at the drop of a hat” for meetings.
EPAA Ukrainian soldier drives an anti-aircraft machine gun during an air raid alarm[/caption]
ReutersRussian drones engulfed the Ukrainian city of Odesa in flames just after the deal was signed[/caption]
The Mega AgencyTrump has stepped back from the Ukraine peace negotiations[/caption]
The shift comes just hours after Trump’s deputy JD Vance said the war in Ukraine is unlikely to end “any time soon”.
He added: “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.”
State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said that the US will still support efforts to bring peace in war-torn Ukraine, but will step back from its direct role as a mediator.
It added that Kyiv and Moscow must now present “concrete” proposals for ending the war and should meet directly to resolve the conflict.
Bruce said: “We are not going to fly around the world at the drop of a hat to mediate meetings; that is now between the two parties, and now is the time that they need to present and develop concrete ideas about how this conflict is going to end.
“[Trump] knows also that there is another part of the world, a whole globe that needs some attention.
“The Secretary has also made it very clear that while our style will change, the methodology of how we contribute to this will change in that we will not be the mediators,” Bruce added.
Trump previously said he would pull the plug on the peace negotiations if Moscow or Kyiv did not commit to a ceasefire.
He wrote on Truth Social: “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.”
The US initially proposed a 30-day ceasefire deal, which was accepted by Kyiv.
Not only has Moscow rejected the ceasefire deal and other plans to end the bloody war, but the Russian forces have also intensified attacks in Ukraine that have killed civilians.
Trump is said to be growing “increasingly frustrated” with both Putin and Zelensky in his attempts to bring the Ukraine war to a close.
Trump, who appeared to be cosying up with Putin since taking over the White House in January, ordered Putin to “sit down and sign a deal”.
He said he was both “surprised and very disappointed” that mad Vlad continued to bomb Ukraine, despite the dictator engaging in crunch talks with US peace envoy Steve Witkoff.
It came after Putin’s barbaric missile strikes on Kyiv earlier this week that left at least 12 dead.
Russia announced a token ceasefire to coincide with VE Day after President Trump accused Putin of stringing him along on peace talks.
The Kremlin said troops will stop fighting for 96 hours midnight on 7 May.
The pause will coincide with events to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of WW2 in Europe.
But Moscow dashed hopes of a peace deal by repeating demands that Ukraine must surrender and disarm.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump has “made it clear” he wants a permanent ceasefire, rather than the temporary pause offered by the scheming Russian tyrant.
But experts say this was Putin’s plan all along, and he’s played Trump like a fiddle.
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