US sets deadline for talks as Trump and Rubio prepare actions
Photo: Tammy Bruce (Getty Images)
US President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio are taking the negotiations between Ukraine and Russia seriously. They will make decisions based on the two-week deadline announced by Trump, according to the State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce speaking on Fox News.
The host asked Tammy Bruce when the repeatedly announced two-week deadline, which "keeps moving," would actually happen. She denied that it doesn't keep moving.
"We have statements from both the president recently and the secretary (Rubio), noting that this is not a long-term thing. This is not simply a standard operating procedure. It is not gonna go on for months or years that we have standards and benchmarks for what needed to occur," Bruce said.
According to her, Trump is "optimistic" for progress in the negotiations but remains determined. Bruce believes Trump’s determination is evident from "some very aggressive Truth Social posts about his disappointment with President Putin, that he knows that man and he knows he had changed."
Bruce stated that the president was very clear about what he felt - there were new frameworks and new timelines for when it would become clear if Ukraine and Russia were serious, and that Trump and Rubio would make decisions accordingly, adding that the US demands were known to both sides.
New round of peace talks in Istanbul
On May 16, direct negotiations between Ukraine and Russia were held in Istanbul regarding a possible end to the war. During the meeting, the sides agreed to a prisoner exchange in the format of 1,000 for 1,000, which has already been implemented, and also agreed to prepare proposals on the terms of a ceasefire.
After a phone call between US President Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, the last one announced the Kremlin’s readiness to work on a so-called memorandum, which should include provisions for stopping hostilities.
Russia proposed holding a second round of talks in Istanbul on Monday, June 2. Meanwhile, Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov spoke by phone with the head of the Russian delegation, Vladimir Medinsky, and reported that the Ukrainian side has already submitted its draft document.
However, Russia has yet to provide its memorandum, promising to reveal it directly at the upcoming meeting.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also commented on the situation. He noted that for the next meeting not to be empty, the agenda must be understood and properly prepared for the negotiations. However, according to him, Russia is doing everything possible to make the meeting fruitless.
The Russian delegation for the scheduled talks will be the same as for the first round. This information was announced by the spokesperson of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova.
