US will abandon Ukraine peace efforts ‘within days’ if no progress made, Rubio warns

CNN ^ | April 18, 2025 | Alex Stambaugh, Max Saltman, Victoria Butenko, Ross Adkin and Sophie Tanno

[McGruff]

The United States could end its efforts on ending the Ukrainian conflict within “days” if there are no signs of progress, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned Friday.

“If it is not possible to end the war in Ukraine, we need to move on,” he told reporters before departing Paris, where he had held high-level talks with European and Ukrainian officials. “We need to determine very quickly now, and I’m talking about a matter of days, whether or not this is doable,” he said.

Rubio’s comments point to mounting frustration within the Trump administration at the lack of progress at bringing the three-year full-scale war to a halt.

[McGruff]

Is that a bad thing or a good thing?

[vivenne]

I think walking is the only answer. Good thing.

[CatHerd]

Well, it depends.

[hinckley buzzard]

The media will paint it as a big Trump failure. That’s a bad thing.

[dpetty121263]

Oops didn’t Trump say he could knock this little war out in minutes?

[Psalm 73]

Besides taking part in no more talks, "Walking" also means no U.S. weapons and no U.S. money.

Out of ammo and manpower, once the spring thaws are past, Russia will roll Ukraine.

THEN the war will be over.

[desertsolitaire]

Given lead time by the end of US support and equipment to Ukraine, the Europeans COULD, if they really wanted to beyond running their mouths, take over supplying Ukraine with cash and equipment, by wholesale depletion of European cash and equipment. Seems unlikely that they actually intend to do so, despite their running their collective mouths in bashing the US. Ukraine fails in any case, just more slowly if the Europeans take over. A little more slowly. All demographics.

[nonliberal]

Just let them fight.

[tlozo]

Out of ammo and manpower, once the spring thaws are past, Russia will roll Ukraine.

Europe is now supplying.

Ammunition initiative for Ukraine to continue, Czech president says -Feb 15, 2025

A Czech-led initiative to supply Ukraine with large-calibre ammunition has delivered 1.6 million shells and will continue, Czech President Petr Pavel said on Saturday, a year after he announced the drive to help Ukraine in its war against Russia.

£450M surge of military support to boost Ukraine's Armed Forces as UK and Germany chair meeting of 50 nations

Today’s package, worth £450 million, includes £350 - April 11, 2025million from the UK from this year’s record £4.5 billion military support funding for Ukraine. Further funding is being provided by Norway, via the UK-led International Fund for Ukraine

Germany pledges IRIS-T air defenses, tanks, shells in new aid package for Ukraine - 4/11/25

[MoraBlack]

Walking away, after all his big talk?

[desertsolitaire]

Could it have made a difference if the West had recognized early AND done a Manhattan Project urgency program to make and supply drones and 155 mm artillery shells in huge numbers to Ukraine? Could that have balanced out the skewed demographics with Russia? Don’t know.

[CatHerd]

Whatever Trump does, CNN will paint it as a failure. :(

He could fly onto Ukraine like Superman (or my fave, Underdog), golden cape trailing behind him, while all the Ukrainians cheer and sing “Orange Man! He’s come to save the day!” — single handedly kick every last Russian soldier back across 1991 borders, stop speeding missiles with his bare hands, then fly a victory lap around St. Basil’s iconic onion domes while Putin laments “Curses! Foiled again!” live from the Kremlin on CNN ... and they’d still paint it as a failure.

[nathanbedford]

Is that a bad thing or a good thing? If America "moves on" the result will be...

A fiasco approaching the debacle in Afghanistan, a blow to American prestige and, worse, a blow to hopes of deterring China on Taiwan. We invited universal doubt that America can be trusted to keep its word to honor its alliances.

The disaster includes a world thoroughly disillusioned with America, our allies openly questioning our loyalty to Europe in favor of intrigues with Russia, NATO in shambles with member nations canceling weapons orders from America to keep them in Europe because they simply believe America cannot be trusted.

The potential for proliferation of nuclear weapons has increased in the wake of Pacific rim allies fearing that the American nuclear umbrella will be withdrawn in the pinch, Japan and Australia are now considering whether they must provide their own nuclear deterrent.

Similarly in Europe, Britain and France contemplate extending their nuclear commitments and other nations have begun to consider that they too must have their own nuclear deterrence. We have probably promoted nuclear proliferation.

Relations with Canada, our great trading partner, are shattered not just with government officials but with people of Canada who react to US belligerency. Likewise, Greenland and Denmark are indignant over threats of invasion and unlikely to submit meekly to American demands over Greenland nor can we expect them be easy pickings in tariff wars, serving as models for other more important trading partners to do the same.

Instead of ending the war in a single day as promised, we have presumed to enter negotiations pretending to be fiduciaries of Ukraine's interests only to concede every Russian demand even before negotiations had begun. We lied about Zelinski being a dictator and even wrongly charged him with starting the war. We unilaterally cut off material aid and vital intelligence to Ukraine while extorting mineral rights from that beleaguered country.

We ambushed Ukraine on national television at the Oval Office and humiliated its President in the most boorish conceivable manner. In doing so we offended many more observers than the Canadians, the Danes, the Greenlanders, the Ukrainians, and just about all of Europe.

We have converted allies into enemies including virtually every nation with which we are now engaged in a existential trade war. Ironically, we were forced to pause our trade ultimatum to the world because Treasury Secretary Bessent told the president that the bond market was crumbling when we needed to refinance trillions of maturing debt bonds. We looked weak and untrustworthy concerning Ukraine and now we look utterly inept concerning tariff negotiations.

The shockwaves generated by this fiasco will reverberate well into the future, not just affecting tariffs, but affecting America's position as reserve currency, affecting our ability to weather a sovereign debt crisis as our $37 trillion debt comes due, making a renewal of inflation, recession or stagflation more likely.

Is that a bad thing or a good thing?

Good God!

[EQAndyBuzz]

“Out of ammo and manpower, once the spring thaws are past, Russia will roll Ukraine.”

Lower oil $5 bucks a barrel and subsidize American producers the $5 bucks a barrel and the war will be over within a week. It’s the only leverage the US has right now.

[dforest]

I am for extracting all US support and leaving both sides to duke it out until they run out of means to keep it going.

That may be the only way to end it.

No more taxpayer dollars to that place and they need to pay for their Starlink.

[dforest]

The media may try, but most people know better. Paying for, and keeping a war going in another land is not a popular thing with people.

[whitney69]

“Oops didn’t Trump say he could knock this little war out in minutes?”

He is. He’s taken every effort to get them together, and since they don’t want to, he’s ending our part. The war for us is going to be over and we can walk away knowing we gave it our best. What happens after that is none of our business.

If two pit bulls are lined up in a cage, then saying stop is not going to do so. The dogs have to want to. And Trump refused to go in and stop it militarily. Not our war, till we come clean about what we have in there. And no one has said anything about that confirming our little situation.

wy69

wy69

[Raycpa]

Sometimes walking is the only way to finish a deal

[Sirius Lee]

If we walk away from funding and arming the EuroSlav dysfunction then FR’s PedoPals will have a meltdown.

[rottweiller_inc]

“done a Manhattan Project urgency program to make and supply drones and 155 mm artillery shells in huge numbers to Ukraine?”
a couple of problems with that. First. It’s not 1939, both the world and the people have changed.
second The US is in no position either in terms of raw materials, allies, manufacturing base and the patriotic American that made it all work to make that happen again.