The State Department said the US would no longer mediate in the negotiations, but later denied this
The United States will no longer mediate peace talks between Ukraine and Russia. This was stated by US State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce at a briefing on May 1. Subsequently, she denied the allegation.
According to her, Secretary of State Marco Rubio has made it clear that the style and methodology of the US contribution to the negotiation process will change, and she announced this on April 29.
"The contribution will change in that we will not be intermediaries... We are certainly still committed to that and will help and do whatever we can. But we're not going to be flying around the world at the drop of a hat to mediate meetings," Bruce said .
She emphasized that negotiations should now take place between the two sides – Ukraine and Russia. And now is the time for them to develop and present concrete ideas on how to end the full-scale war.
"It will be up to them," summarized a representative of the US State Department.
UPDATED. Bruce has clarified her statement: The United States continues to mediate in the talks, but will withdraw if there is no progress.
- april 18 Rubio says the US will withdraw from the peace talks on Ukraine if there is no rapid progress. on April 20, Kellogg said that this is a tough statement, but it should be.
- On April 29, Bruce said that the US would withdraw as mediator from the talks, if no progress is made. She said she was quoting Rubio.
- On April 27, Rubio said that this week the U.S. should decide whether it wants to engage in peace talks on the Russia-Ukraine war.
