Russia-Ukraine peace ‘up to them’ – State Department
Washington has done what it can to bring Moscow and Kiev to the negotiating table but won’t wait indefinitely for results, US State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce told Fox News in an interview on Saturday.
Russia and Ukraine held their first direct peace talks in three years on May 16 in Istanbul, where they agreed to submit detailed ceasefire proposals. Earlier this week, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov proposed holding a second round of negotiations in Istanbul on June 2, though Kiev has yet to confirm its participation.
“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,” Bruce said, when asked whether the US had set a concrete timetable for the peace process.
“We have gotten people to the table, and they know what we are requiring. But it’s really up to them,” she added.
US President Donald Trump has previously warned that he would walk away from the process if no progress is made. He also threatened to impose new sanctions on Moscow should it fail to reach an agreement with Kiev. “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,” Trump told reporters in April.
Moscow has rejected accusations of stalling the talks, saying it intends to present a document outlining its terms at the next meeting. Russian diplomats have also accused Kiev of deceiving Washington and “playing games” instead of negotiating in good faith.
