Ukraine-Russia peace talks: US to withdraw as mediator? State Department official signals, says ‘we are not going to...’

The United States will not be ‘mediators’ for Russia-Ukraine peace talks going forward, a State Department spokesperson indicated on Thursday.

Speaking to reporters on Thursday, US State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said that the US is likely to step back from being involved in brokering peace talks between Russia and Ukraine, reflecting President Donald Trump's growing frustration over the matter that is taking more time than expected.

“We are not going to fly around the world at the drop of a hat to mediate meetings,” New York Post quoted her as saying.

However, Bruce asserted that the US remains committed to helping reach a deal.

She said that it is up to Russia and Ukraine now on how they are going to arrive at a concrete decision to end the conflict.

“It is now between the two parties, and now — now is the time that they need to present and develop concrete ideas about how this conflict is going to end. It’s going to be up to them,” Bruce said.

Donald Trump frustrated with Vladimir Putin?

Tammy Bruce's statement to reporters come at a time when US President Donald Trump expressed his frustration regarding his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin's actions.

The spokesperson's words on Thursday also indicated the Trump administration's growing frustration over the same.

“We are watching Putin’s actions, right, not his words. And in the process, he’s refined a very specific timeline. Weeks ago it was weeks; a few days ago it was days,” Bruce said, accusing the Russian president of prolonging the process of actually taking an action.

Days ago, Donald Trump had gone for a direct dig against Vladimir Putin, asking him to stop shooting and sign the peace deal with Ukraine.

“I want him to stop shooting. Sit down and sign the deal. We have the confines of a deal, I believe, and I want him to sign it and be done with it,” he had told reporters earlier this week.

Russia-Ukraine tensions continue

The Ukrainian air force said on Friday that Russia launched 150 drones during its overnight attack. The air force said it shot down 64 of them and another 62 drones did not reach their targets likely due to electronic warfare countermeasures. It did not specify what happened to the remaining 24 drones.

This comes days before a temporary ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine will be put in place. Russia announced a ceasefire on Ukraine from May 8 to May 11 to celebrate World War II Victory Day.

Meanwhile, Washington and Kyiv have signed a new minerals deal that will see the United States invest in Ukraine's rare earth and other deposits.

The deal, described as "truly equal" by Kyiv and a "win-win" by Washington, came after weeks of tension following a spat in late February between US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky.