The United States will no longer act as a mediator in peace talks between Ukraine and Russia, the State Department has confirmed.
State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said the United States was changing its “methodology of contributions” to the talks and would no longer “busily fly around the world” for meetings.
“We will continue to assist, but we will no longer fly around the world as a mediator in meetings. Now is the time for the two sides to present and develop concrete ideas on how to end this conflict. That will be up to them,” Bruce said.
US Vice President James David Vance warned that the war in Ukraine was unlikely to end anytime soon, saying it was now up to Kiev and Moscow to reach a solution.
Vance said President Donald Trump had brought both sides to the negotiating table, but the United States would no longer lead efforts to mediate peace.
“This is going nowhere and it’s not going to end anytime soon. Now it’s up to them to reach an agreement and stop this brutal conflict,” Vance said.
The Kremlin has previously expressed a willingness to hold direct talks, but has rejected a recent U.S. peace proposal, saying it does not entail international recognition of the territory seized by Russian forces.
Ukraine, for its part, has consistently refused to recognize any Russian annexations.
