US will soon end peace efforts for Ukraine, Rubio warns

US will soon end peace efforts for Ukraine, Rubio warns

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Friday that the United States should abandon its efforts if it is not possible to end the war in Ukraine. “If it’s not feasible, we have to move on,” he told reporters in Paris. “We have to decide very quickly, and I’m talking days here, whether this can be implemented.”

Encounters with European and Ukrainian allies

Rubio's comments came a day after he met European and Ukrainian allies along with special envoy Steve Witkoff as US President Donald Trump's administration pushes for an end to the war in Ukraine. A U.S.-authored draft peace plan document received an "encouraging response" at the talks, according to a State Department statement, which did not provide further details about the draft.

Conversations about specific approaches to peace

Rubio explained that he and Witkoff came to Paris to “talk about more specific outlines of what it will take to end the war” and whether this is actually possible. "If it's not possible, if we're so far apart that this isn't going to happen, then I think the president is probably at the point where he says we're done," he added.

"It's not our war. We didn't start it. The United States has been supporting Ukraine for three years and wants this war to end, but it's not our war," Rubio continued. "President Trump has spent 87 days at the highest levels of government trying to end this war. We are now reaching the point where we must decide whether that is even possible or not. That is why we are engaging both sides."

Missile attacks on Kharkiv

Meanwhile, Russia launched a missile attack on Ukraine overnight, hitting a residential neighborhood in the city of Kharkiv. The attack left one person dead and 67 others injured, authorities said on Friday. For a long time it was feared that there could be more people under the rubble of a damaged house.

Progress on the mineral agreement

Rubio's warning also comes against the background that the US and Ukraine were moving towards an agreement on a mineral trade on Thursday evening. Kyiv and Washington have now signed a memorandum to move closer to the proposed agreement, Ukrainian Economy Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said. “We are pleased to announce the signing of a memorandum with our American partners, which paves the way for an economic partnership agreement and the creation of an investment fund for the reconstruction of Ukraine,” Svyrydenko said in a post on the X platform.

The path to final agreement

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said earlier on Thursday that the memorandum might be signed remotely that day. “This document is the result of the professional work of the negotiating teams that recently concluded another round of technical discussions in Washington,” Svyrydenko added. “Now the finalization of the text and its signing - followed by ratification by the parliaments - are imminent.”

“There is a lot to do, but the current pace and significant progress suggest that this document will be very beneficial for both countries,” Svyrydenko concluded. An earlier draft of the mineral agreement was not signed in February after a public dispute between Zelenskiy and Trump. The details of the proposed deal have been in flux since then, with U.S. Treasury Department officials meeting with a Ukrainian delegation in Washington this week to hammer out the deal.

This is a developing story and will be updated.