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Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and has placed a number of conditions on any potential ceasefire.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, US President Donald Trump, and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. (File)
Russia-Ukraine War: Ending the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war was one of US President Donald Trump’s campaign promises, and one that he famously boasted could be achieved in 24 hours. But months after assuming the Presidential office for a second term, the Trump administration barely managed to negotiate a partial ceasefire.
The US President at several occasions said that a conclusion to the ongoing efforts could be seen by May. But it seems that Trump’s efforts to end the war are struggling to get off the starting blocks. Despite the Trump administration’s initial confidence that it could secure a ceasefire deal quickly, attempts to reach a full ceasefire have yet to materialise, with Washington blaming both sides.
Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and has placed a number of conditions on any potential ceasefire.
With the growing frustration, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has now warned that the United States could end its peace efforts on ending the conflict within “days” if there are no signs of progress. “We’re not going to continue with this endeavour for weeks and months on end,” Rubio said, adding that the US had “other priorities to focus on”.
A Timeline of Key Events
Trump Vows To End War In 24 Hours
During CNN Townhall in 2023, Trump had asserted to end the ongoing war within 24 hours. “They’re dying, Russians and Ukrainians. I want them to stop dying. And I’ll have that done — I’ll have that done in 24 hours,” Trump had said.
He had reiterated the claim during his September debate with then-Vice President Kamala Harris, when he emphasised his plan to mediate between Russia and Ukraine. “That is a war that’s dying to be settled. I will get it settled before I even become president. If I win, when I’m president-elect, and what I’ll do is I’ll speak to one, I’ll speak to the other. I’ll get them together,” he had said.
However, after assuming the office, the US President admitted that his repeated campaign promise to end the Russia-Ukraine war within 24 hours, even before taking office, was “a little bit sarcastic.“
Trump Assumes Presidential Office
Succeeding Joe Biden, Donald Trump was sworn in as the 47th President of the United States as he took the oath of office in a packed US Capitol building on January 20, 2025. While, JD Vance took oath as the Vice President of the country.
After a bitterly polarising and violent campaign where he was targeted in two assassination attempts, Donald Trump earned a decisive victory over Democratic Former VP Kamala Harris, gaining 312 electoral votes to her 226.
Trump has repeatedly said that if he was the President in 2022, Russia would not have been able to invade Ukraine in 2022. Putin had also claimed that the Ukraine crisis might not have emerged if Trump was the President.
Trump Holds Talks With Putin
After assuming the office, Trump held “lengthy and highly productive” telephone call with Vladimir Putin on February 12 in which they both had agreed to begin negotiations to end the war in Ukraine.
In a readout of the conversation posted on Truth Social, Trump had said, “We discussed Ukraine, the Middle East, Energy, Artificial Intelligence, the power of the Dollar, and various other subjects.”
“We agreed to work together, very closely, including visiting each other’s Nations. We have also agreed to have our respective teams start negotiations immediately, and we will begin by calling President Zelenskyy, of Ukraine, to inform him of the conversation, something which I will be doing right now,” Trump had said.
Both Washington and Moscow, in their descriptions of the call, suggested the men assumed a conciliatory tone.
Trump-Zelenskyy Oval Office Showdown
Signs of Trump’s impatience have erupted periodically since he started pushing for a ceasefire, most notably at the disastrous Oval Office meeting with Zelenskyy on March 1, as per CNN.
Donald Trump, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and US Vice-President JD Vance were locked in a series of tense exchanges at the White House- a week after the Ukrainian President said that his US counterpart was “living in a disinformation space” created by Russia.
The Trump administration was to negotiate an agreement with Ukraine that would grant the US access to Ukraine’s minerals in exchange for the support it has provided since the war began in 2022, as part of the peace deal.
At the Oval Office, Trump dressed down Zelenskyy and said that the latter is “gambling with World War Three”. The US President chided Zelenskyy as he said that the Ukrainian leader has “tremendous hate” for Russian President Vladimir Putin. “You want me to be tough, I can be tougher than any human being you’ve ever seen… but you’re never going to get a deal that way,” he said.
Following the argument, Washington had suspended military aid to Ukraine as well as intelligence sharing and access to satellite imagery in a bid to force it to the negotiating table.
US-Ukraine Meet In Saudi Arabia
Later American diplomats and their Ukrainian counterparts held two rounds of deliberations in Saudi Arabia in March to discuss measures to halt the Ukraine war, holding discussions on various topics like mineral deal and also a possible resumption of US military aid to Ukraine after the Oval Office Showdown.
Later Zelenskyy held a telephonic conversation with Trump where the former had agreed to accept the unconditional ceasefire proposal as proposed by the US. The Ukrainian President had said that Kyiv was ready to pause strikes on Russian energy and civilian infrastructure.
However, Putin demurred and said it was a complicated matter.
After Putin’s rejection, top Moscow officials have attempted to shift the blame onto the Ukrainian government and European leaders, claiming that they are desperate to keep fighting and that only Russia is willing to negotiate a peace deal. For a broader peace deal, Russia has insisted on total neutrality for Ukraine, a drastically reduced military, the removal of its current elected government as well as control of the five regions of the country it has illegally annexed (but doesn’t entirely control) .
However, continuous strikes from both the ends irked the United States. Trump lashed out at the leaders of both warring parties in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, expressing frustration as efforts to kick-start ceasefire talks remain deadlocked.
Trump had first criticised Russian President Vladimir Putin for questioning the credibility of Zelenskyy as a negotiating partner, saying he was “very angry, pissed off” with the Kremlin chief.
Later, Trump turned his fire on Zelenskyy, saying: “I see he’s trying to back out of the rare earth deal. And if he does that he’s got some problems. Big, big problems. We made a deal on rare earth and now he’s saying, well, you know, I want to renegotiate the deal. He wants to be a member of NATO. Well, he was never going to be a member of NATO. He understands that. So if he’s looking to renegotiate the deal, he’s got big problems.”
Trump Admin Warns To Abandon Efforts
Rubio said he spoke with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov after the Paris talks and had told him they had been constructive, and also briefed him on “some of the elements of” the US peace framework.
Rubio’s remarks reflected how the US-sponsored peace efforts have stalled and the president’s frustration with the talks has grown. Though Trump said during his campaign he could end the war in Ukraine within 24 hours, he is now almost three months into his second term. The administration’s main achievement to date — an agreement by both sides to pause attacks on energy infrastructure for 30 days — is close to its end and has not stopped deadly attacks in Ukraine, Washington Post reported.
The top US diplomat did not specify what to “move on” would mean for continued U.S. military support for Ukraine or sanctions on Russia. If the United States were to just end its support for peace talks, it would mark a significant win for the Kremlin, which currently has the momentum on the battlefield, the news outlet added.
Soon after Rubio’s comments, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov responded by saying progress had been made, citing the 30-day energy ceasefire, which he then said had expired.
Russia’s conflict in Ukraine goes back more than a decade, to 2014, when Kyiv’s pro-Russian president was overthrown. Russia then annexed Crimea and backed insurgents in bloody fighting in eastern Ukraine.
(With inputs from agencies)
- Location :
Washington D.C., United States of America (USA)
