Rubio says concrete Ukraine proposals needed now, or US will step back

WASHINGTON - US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on April 29 that now is the time for concrete proposals from Moscow and Kyiv to end the war in Ukraine, and warned that the United States will step back as a mediator if there is no progress.

At a later United Nations Security Council meeting, US diplomat John Kelley blamed Russia for the continuing bloodshed, saying it had “regrettably” carried out high-profile strikes “causing needless loss of life, including of innocent civilians”.

“Right now, Russia has a great opportunity to achieve a durable peace,” Mr Kelley said, while adding that the burden for ending the war rests with Russia and Ukraine.

“It is up to the leaders of both these countries to decide whether peace is possible. If both sides are ready to end the war, the United States will fully support their path to a lasting peace,” he said.

State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce cited Mr Rubio as saying that the time had been reached at which “concrete proposals need to be delivered by the two parties on how to end this conflict”.

“How we proceed from here is a decision that belongs now to the President. If there is no progress, we will step back as mediators in this process,” Ms Bruce told a regular news briefing, referring to US President Donald Trump, who has sought to secure a deal to end the conflict, but made clear his impatience.

Both Kyiv and Moscow have sought to show Mr Trump they are making progress towards his goal of a rapid peace deal after repeated US threats to abandon its peace push, but at the United Nations both blamed each other for continuing the war.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on April 28 declared a three-day ceasefire in May in the war with Ukraine to mark the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Soviet Union and its allies in World War II, in a move that appeared aimed at signalling that Russia is still interested in peace.

Ukraine has questioned why Moscow would not agree to its call for a ceasefire lasting at least 30 days and starting immediately.

US wants ‘durable’ ceasefire

Ms Bruce told reporters the US was seeking a “complete, durable ceasefire and an end to the conflict” not a “three-day moment so you can celebrate something else”.

Since taking office in January, Mr Trump has upended US policy toward the war, pressing Ukraine to agree to a ceasefire while easing the pressure on Russia.

Ukrainian and European officials pushed back last week against some US proposals on how to end Russia’s war in Ukraine, making counter-proposals on issues from territory to sanctions, according to the full texts of the proposals seen by Reuters.

UN political affairs chief Rosemary DiCarlo told the Security Council recent intensified efforts to bring the parties to negotiations “offer a glimmer of hope for progress towards a ceasefire and an eventual peaceful settlement”.

She noted Russia’s announcement of the May truce, but added that hostilities had continued during Holy Week, with both sides accusing each other of violations, despite a 30-hour Easter truce Russia announced on April 19.

She also noted that during a previous 30-day moratorium on strikes against energy infrastructure announced separately by Russia, Ukraine and the US, such attacks had persisted.

At the Security Council, France and Britain praised US mediation, while criticising Russia, which launched a full-scale invasion of its neighbour in 2022.

Mr Jean-Noel Barrot, France’s minister for Europe, said Kyiv had demonstrated goodwill and called Mr Putin the sole obstacle to a ceasefire by seeking Ukraine’s “capitulation”.

Russia’s UN ambassador, Mr Vasily Nebenzya, rejected allegations that Russian forces had targeted civilians and accused Ukraine of using civilians or human shields by positioning air defences in heavily populated areas.

He accused Kyiv of recklessly rejecting balanced US peace proposals and targeting Russian civilians, while saying it was increasingly difficult for Western backers of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s government to conceal its “brutal, misanthropic and Nazi essence”.

Ms Mariana Betsa, a Ukrainian deputy foreign minister, told the Security Council Russia wants Ukraine to surrender and Kyiv could not accept peace at any cost.

She said Ukraine would never recognise any temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine as Russian, including Crimea, which Russia has held since 2014. REUTERS