President Donald Trump said Friday that he believes that there is a good chance of ending the Ukraine-Russia conflict.
"It's coming to a head right now," he told reporters at the White House.
But he underscored the possibility of the U.S. taking "a pass" and quitting talks.
"If for some reason one of the two parties makes it very difficult, we're going to say you're fools, you're foolish, and we're just going to take a pass," Trump said.
He told reporters, however, that he did not want to say he was walking away from the talks.
Trump's comments came after Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned earlier Friday that the U.S. may "move on" from trying to secure a Russia-Ukraine peace deal if there is no progress in the coming days, after months of efforts have failed to bring an end to the fighting.
"Yeah very shortly," Trump said when asked to confirm what Rubio had said. "No specific number of days, but quickly. We want to get it done."
Trump refused to cast blame on either Russian President Vladimir Putin, who ordered the February 2022 full-scale invasion of pro-Western Ukraine, or Ukrainian President Voloydmyr Zelenskyy. But he insisted both sides had to make progress.
Asked if Russian President Vladimir Putin was dragging his feet on negotiations, Trump replied, "I hope not."
This report contains material from Newsmax wire services.
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