She said it would ultimately be up to Trump to decide whether to move ahead on diplomacy.
Ceasefire: Three days or 30
Russian President Vladimir Putin recently proposed a three-day ceasefire around Moscow’s commemorations next week for the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II.
But Putin has rebuffed a Ukrainian-backed US call for a 30-day ceasefire.
The United States wants “not a three-day moment so you can celebrate something else – a complete, durable ceasefire and an end to the conflict”, Bruce said.
It remains unclear if Rubio is actually ready to turn the page or is seeking to pressure the two countries, especially Russia, which believes it has an upper hand on the battlefield and in diplomacy since Trump’s outreach.
Trump, criticising his predecessor Joe Biden’s support for Ukraine, reached out to Putin after taking office, easing him from the international isolation he has been in since he ordered the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
Putin again last week met with Trump’s business friend Steve Witkoff, who has taken on a role of a globe-trotting envoy.
Battle for Crimea
Trump in turn berated Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a February 28 White House meeting, with Trump and Vice-President JD Vance accusing the wartime leader of ingratitude for US weapons.
Ukraine quickly tried to make amends by backing US diplomatic efforts and pursuing a deal in which the United States would control much of the country’s mineral wealth.
But Zelenskyy has held firm against formal international recognition of Russia’s 2014 takeover of Crimea.
Trump has insisted that Ukraine has lost Crimea and Zelenskyy should give it up.
Speaking by videoconference to an event in Poland on Tuesday, Zelenskyy said: “We all want this war to end in a fair way – with no rewards for Putin, especially no land.”
Senator Jeanne Shaheen, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said on Tuesday that recognising “Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea would invite additional aggression from Moscow and Beijing”.
“I have endeavoured to give President Trump the space to negotiate a just and lasting peace in Ukraine, which is a goal we both share,” she said.
“However, President Trump and his team have fatally mismanaged these negotiations – offering concession after concession to Russia, throwing away our leverage and fracturing the united front with our allies that is critical to ending this war,” she said.
Russian forces close in
Ukraine on Tuesday ordered the evacuation of seven villages in the eastern Dnipropetrovsk region which used to be remote from the frontlines but are now under threat as Russian forces close in.
Russia has been trying to break into the region from the neighbouring Donetsk but has not succeeded, even after more than three years of grinding battles.
Last week a ballistic missile ripped into a residential area of Kyiv in one of the deadliest attacks on the city since the invasion.
Trump, who has boasted of his rapport with Putin, wrote, “Vladimir, STOP”, on social media after the attack.
- Agence France-Presse
