Trump ranted to aides about washing his hands of Russia-Ukraine
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Several days before President Trump and members of his administration said publicly that they were prepared to wash their hands of Russia-Ukraine diplomacy, Trump ranted in private about his frustrations that the negotiations were going nowhere.
Why it matters: After promising a deal within 24 hours of taking office, then kicking off weeks of negotiations, Trump said Friday that he was about ready to give up. He hasn't set a deadline or said whether he would take any further action beyond walking away.
- If either side continues to block a deal, "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 said Friday.
Behind the scenes: Trump made his frustrations clear a few days earlier in an impromptu conversation about the ceasefire push with several of his top advisers, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and diplomatic envoy Steve Witkoff.
- That's where Trump raised the idea that if a deal isn't reached soon he could simply move on to other foreign policy issues, a U.S. official briefed on the issue said.
Driving the news: By Friday, Trump's rant had turned into a public policy statement.
- Rubio said Trump had decided "he has dedicated a lot of time and energy to this, and there are a lot of things going on in the world right now that we need to be focused on."
- "We need to figure out ... within a matter of days, whether this is doable in the short term. If it's not, then I think we're just going to move on," Rubio said.
- Later on Friday Rubio held a phone call with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte and reiterated that "if a clear path to peace does not emerge soon, the United States will step back from efforts to broker peace," State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said.
Zoom in: Rubio also shared Trump's frustrations with the French, British, German and Ukrainian officials gathered in Paris for a marathon of meetings on Thursday to discuss the path to peace.
- "Rubio was not specific about what such a step would look like but only stressed that the U.S. wants fast progress," one European diplomat told Axios.
- Two European diplomats confirmed Rubio said Trump was losing his patience and might withdraw from the process if a deal wasn't reached soon.
Between the lines: Three European diplomats felt Rubio's comments were mostly aimed at the Ukrainians.
- A source close to the Ukrainian government also said it seemed Rubio's comments were aimed at pressing Ukraine. The source was also concerned that a Trump withdrawal from the negotiations could lead to suspension of U.S. military aid to Ukraine.
- The European diplomats said Rubio didn't speak about increasing the pressure on Russia during the Paris meetings.
- "The impression was that Rubio and Witkoff are under a lot of pressure from Trump and they are channeling it to the other players," a European diplomat said.
Reality check: Ukraine swiftly agreed to Trump's plans for a 30-day ceasefire, but Russia has slow-walked that proposal and argued they are winning on the battlefield and thus have a number of conditions for any peace agreement.
- As a result, it's unlikely the Kremlin would have particular concerns about Trump giving up on diplomacy.
State of play: The U.S. isn't out of the game yet.
- Rubio and Witkoff also presented a framework for a potential peace deal to end the war during Thursday's meetings in Paris, the State Department said.
- Rubio said he's now awaiting the responses from Kyiv and Moscow.
