President Trump on Friday gave a pointed ultimatum to both Kyiv and Moscow, warning that the United States would withdraw from ceasefire negotiations if neither side demonstrates a willingness to move toward a resolution.
When asked about a deal between Russia and Ukraine on Friday, Trump said: “We’re talking about here people dying. We’re going to get it stopped, ideally.
“Now if, for some reason, one of the two parties makes it very difficult, we’re just going to say, ‘you’re fools, you’re horrible people,’ and we’re going to just take a pass.”
The statement signaled a broader shift and frustration from the White House with the Trump administration’s growing impatience with what officials describe as diplomatic inertia.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio echoed that posture earlier in the day, declaring that the U.S. would not participate in “an open-ended process,” and that a determination about the viability of the talks would be made “within days.” “We have other priorities,” Rubio said.
The warnings arrive at a time of deepening stalemate on the battlefield and in the negotiating rooms, but with Ukraine beginning to show cracks, according to reports on the ground.
New Conservative Post recently detailed a harrowing field dispatch from Ukraine that paints a picture far removed from the early days of patriotic defiance. Citing journalist Shura Burtin’s report—originally published in the Swiss magazine Reportagen and translated by Meduza—the piece describes a country buckling under the strain of a war that has devolved into brutal attrition, psychological decay, and state-enforced conscription.
According to the report, the initial euphoria of national unity has been replaced by fear, fatigue, and a pervasive draft crisis. In cities like Kyiv, men actively avoid patrols from Territorial Recruitment Centers, which now operate more like paramilitary press gangs than enlistment offices. What was once voluntary service is now referred to grimly as “busification”—forced military service regardless of one’s health or training.
At the front, units are reportedly depleted, morale has withered, and drones dominate the battlefield. Soldiers live in mud, hunted from above, while medical staff speak of dismemberment and death as routine. Desertion is widespread, and the black market for escaping conscription is thriving, with thousands attempting to flee through forests, minefields, and freezing terrain into neighboring countries.
While Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov conceded that negotiations had grown “complicated,” he insisted Moscow remained open to dialogue—though only on terms aligned with President Vladimir V. Putin’s maximalist demands. These include formal recognition of Russian annexations and demilitarization of Ukrainian defenses, conditions President Volodymyr Zelensky has repeatedly rejected.
Further discussions were held in Paris this week, where Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha met with Secretary Rubio and Trump’s special envoy, real estate executive Steve Witkoff. Proposals reportedly on the table included the establishment of a multinational security force and a roadmap toward ceasefire implementation. Yet with Russian bombardments continuing and U.S. officials signaling waning patience, the diplomatic aperture for peace appears to be narrowing—and may soon close altogether.
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