Foreign Minister Rubio Asks Russia-Ukraine To Propose A Concrete Peace Proposal Or The US Will Resign

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio. (Wikimedia Commons/US Department of State/Freddie Everett)

JAKARTA - United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Tuesday it was now time for Moscow and Kyiv to submit concrete proposals to end the war in Ukraine, warning the US would step down as mediators if there was no progress.

State Department spokesman Tammy Bruce quoted Foreign Minister Rubio as saying the time had come when a "concrete proposal needed to be conveyed by both parties on how to end this conflict."

"How do we continue from here is a decision that now belongs to the President. If there is no progress, we will step down as mediators in this process," Bruce said at a regular press conference, referring to President Donald Trump, who has sought to secure an agreement to end the conflict. April 30.

Later, US diplomat John Kelley at a meeting of the United Nations Security Council blamed Russia for continued bloodshed, saying Russia was "very unfortunate" for carrying out a massive attack "corresponding to unnecessary loss of life, including innocent civilians."

"Currently, Russia has a great opportunity to achieve lasting peace," Kelley said, adding the burden to end the war was in the hands of Russia and Ukraine.

"It is up to the leaders of these two countries to decide whether peace is possible. If both sides are ready to end the war, the United States will fully support their path to lasting peace," he said.

Both Kyiv and Moscow have been trying to show President Trump that they are making progress towards his goal of reaching a fast peace deal, after the US repeatedly threatened to stop its peace efforts, but in the United Nations they both blamed each other for continuing the war.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday announced a three-day ceasefire from May 8-10 to mark the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Soviet Union and its allies in the Second World War.

On the other hand, Ukraine questioned why Moscow did not approve Kyiv's call for a ceasefire that lasted at least 30 days and began immediately.

Bruce told reporters Washington wanted a "complete and lasting ceasefire and ending the conflict" not a "three-day moment so you can celebrate something else."