American President Donald Trump is losing his patience with Russia as the White House leader tries to negotiate a ceasefire in Ukraine, according to sources within NATO cited by DPA news agency on Friday, according to Agerpres. According to participants in the NATO foreign ministers’ meeting in Brussels, Marco Rubio stated during the meeting that it is likely Trump will soon no longer accept President Vladimir Putin’s tactics of stalling for time.
Rubio estimated that it could be a matter of weeks rather than months until Trump becomes impatient with Putin, according to participants at the meeting cited by DPA.
“We will know quite soon, it’s a matter of weeks, not months, if Russia is serious about peace or not. I hope they are. If things are prolonged, President Trump will not fall into the trap of endless negotiations,” Rubio added.
“We are checking to see if the Russians are interested in peace. Their actions – not words, but actions – will prove whether they are serious or not, and we intend to find out as soon as possible,” emphasized the American diplomat.
When asked if the ministers were assured by Rubio that Washington will not make concessions to Russia – which would be harmful to European interests -, Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide told Reuters: “I felt that in the room there was wide agreement on where the red lines are.” To the same question, a senior European diplomat commented: “I would say that he (Rubio) said all the right things. But the issue is whether there is still enough trust between the US and its allies.