US State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said that Washington is reportedly getting frustrated with Ukraine and Russia as both warring parties are playing with time.
Russia and Ukraine engaged in their first direct talks in three years on May 16 in Turkiye’s city of Istanbul, agreeing to submit a detailed ceasefire proposal.
Earlier this week, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov proposed holding a second round of negotiations in Istanbul on June 2, though Kyiv has yet to confirm its participation.
“This is not a long-term thing. This is not simply a standard operating procedure. It’s not going to go on for months or years,” Bruce said when asked whether the US had set a concrete timetable for the peace process.
“We have gotten people to the table, and they know what we are requiring. But it’s really up to them,” she added.
US President Donald Trump has previously warned that he would walk away from the talks if no progress is made. The analysts believe that it is a deliberate tactic of Moscow that aims to prolong the peace negotiations without agreeing to terms.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is attempting to frustrate the US president with his deliberate pauses, which are further complicated by the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, who, despite being at a clear disadvantage, is also making the negotiations more complex.
Trump threatened to impose new sanctions on Moscow should it fail to reach an agreement with Kyiv.
“Now, if for some reason one of the two parties makes it very difficult, 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 told reporters in April.
Moscow has rejected allegations of stalling the talks and said it intends to present a document outlining its terms at the next meeting.
