US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Friday said Washington needed to decide soon if an Ukraine truce was feasible, as he left Paris following meetings with European officials. He also said that European countries needed to decide whether to reimpose sanctions on Iran as Tehran was not complying with a nuclear deal.
"We need to figure out here now, within a matter of days, whether a truce in Ukraine is doable in the short term, because if it's not, then I think we're just going to move on," he told reporters at the Le Bourget airport.
"If it is, we're in. If it's not, then... we have other priorities to focus on as well."
"The United States has been helping Ukraine over the last three years, and we want it to end, but it's not our war," Rubio added.
European powers have been seeking a seat at the table since US President Donald Trump blind sided Kyiv and European allies by agreeing to launch peace talks after a phone call with Russia's President Vladimir Putin.
But Trump's push to end the war has stumbled, with Putin rebuffing a complete truce.
Rubio however said European officials had been "very helpful and constructive with their ideas" during talks on Thursday.
"We'd like them to remain engaged... I think the UK and France and Germany can help us move the ball on this and then get this closer to a resolution," he said.
The top US diplomat said he also hoped that European nations would consider lifting sanctions against Russia imposed after it invaded Ukraine in 2022.
"Part of the sanctions against Russia, many of them are European sanctions that we can't lift, if that were ever to be part of a deal," he said.
European countries last month had agreed to ramp up rather than lift sanctions on Russia.
Europeans Need to Decide on Iran Sanctions 'Snap back'
Rubio also considered that European countries needed to decide whether to reimpose sanctions on Iran as Tehran was not complying with a nuclear deal.
"They have an important decision to make very soon on snap back, on the snap back of sanctions because Iran is clearly out of compliance with the current deal," he said as he left Paris after talks with European counterparts.
During his first term, US President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from a landmark nuclear deal which imposed curbs on Iran's nuclear programme in return for sanctions relief.
Tehran adhered to the deal until Washington's withdrawal, but then began rolling back its commitments.
Efforts to revive the 2015 nuclear pact have since faltered, and European officials have expressed frustrations over Tehran's non-compliance.
"Iran is out of compliance, they have to reimpose the sanctions," Rubio added.
With Trump back in office, Washington has re-engaged in the highest-level Iran-US nuclear talks since the previous accord's collapse.
The United States and Iran held discussions on Tehran's nuclear program in Oman last weekend, without European powers.
Another Omani-mediated round is scheduled for Saturday, in Italy.
Visiting Iran on Thursday, UN nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi said Tehran and Washington were running out of time to secure an accord.
Before heading to Iran, Grossi told French newspaper Le Monde that Tehran was "not far" from possessing a nuclear bomb.
With AFP
Comments