The US will know within weeks whether Vladimir Putin is serious about peace, US secretary of state Marco Rubio has said – with Washington’s Nato allies accusing Russia of stalling ceasefire efforts.
Donald Trump and his White House officials have reportedly become wary of Russian autocrat Vladimir Putin’s commitment to peace in Ukraine - despite the US president having insisted for weeks that Putin was serious about reaching a truce.
Speaking at the end of a two-day meeting of Nato foreign ministers, Mr Rubio said: "We will know soon enough, in a matter of weeks, not months, whether Russia is serious about peace or not. I hope they are.
"If this is dragging things out, President Trump's not going to fall into the trap of endless negotiations about negotiations," Mr Rubio said.
The 53-year-old, who had been meeting his Nato counterparts amid straining relations between the US and its European allies over issues relating to both security and international trade, said the US is “testing to see if the Russians are interested in peace”.
“Their actions - not their words, their actions - will determine whether they're serious or not, and we intend to find that out sooner rather than later,” Mr Rubio added.
Moscow recently rejected the proposal agreed between the Trump administration and Kyiv for a 30-day ceasefire. The two parties later agreed to a limited pause in attacks on each other’s energy infrastructure - which they have accused each other of violating - and a partial truce on attacks in the Black Sea.
And Russian attacks on civilian areas in Ukraine have been ongoing ever since ceasefire discussions began.
At least four people were killed after Russia launched an overnight attack on the northeastern city of Kharkiv, Ukrainian officials said. Regional authorities said 35 people, including three children, were injured in the fourth such strike on Kharkiv so far this week.
Dramatic images show fires blazing in the city following the attack, and rescue teams sifted through rubble throughout the night. The Russian drones hit residential quarters, damaging several multi-storey apartment blocks and causing multiple fires.
"As of this morning, unfortunately, there are already four dead. The body of one more person killed by the Russian aggressor has been (removed) from the rubble," Mayor Ihor Terekhov said on Telegram. "We also have 35 wounded."
European countries have now demanded that Moscow prove its commitment to peace by signing up to a ceasefire, with some countries calling for an official date to be set.
Russia “owes an answer to the United States” which had “worked very hard to come up with a mediation effort and a ceasefire proposal”, French foreign minister Jean-Noel Barrot said. British foreign minister David Lammy accused Putin of continuing to “obfuscate” and “drag his feet”.
Mr Lammy added: "He could accept a ceasefire now, he continues to bombard Ukraine, its civilian population, its energy supplies. We see you, Vladimir Putin, we know what you are doing.”
German foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said Putin's talk of negotiations was "nothing but empty promises" and the Russian leader was "playing for time by raising ever new demands".
A senior US State Department official said there was no timeline as it stands but that there was a recognition that “the sooner the better”. They added: "There was consensus that Russia needs to do more, that Russia should agree to a ceasefire."
