Washington, 28 April 2025 (dpa/MIA) - US Secretary of State Marco Rubio raised the pressure on Ukraine and Russia to negotiate a peace agreement on Sunday.

"This week is going to be a really important week in which we have to make a determination about whether this is an endeavour that we want to continue to be involved in, or if it's time to sort of focus on some other issues that are equally, if not more important," Rubio said on US television, referring to Washington's role as a mediator.

But he refused to provide a concrete answer to the specific question of how long Kiev and Moscow still had to reach an agreement, saying it would be "silly" to set a specific date.

Of a possible agreement, Rubio said that the goal had not yet been reached. "There are reasons to be optimistic, but there are reasons to be realistic of course, as well. We're close, but we're not close enough."

"We've made real progress, but those last couple of steps of this journey were always going to be the hardest ones," he said.

The US could not continue to devote time and resources to these efforts if they did not lead to success, Rubio said.

US President Donald Trump met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on the sidelines of the funeral service for pope Francis in Rome. During his return journey to the US, he accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of not seriously wanting to end the war - and threatened Moscow with new sanctions.

Washington is putting pressure on Ukraine to accept an agreement to end the war that would involve steep concessions, financially and territorially.

Meanwhile Moscow continues to bombard its neighbour despite stated calls for peace, in the full-scale invasion launched by Russia in 2022.

Raw materials still on agenda

The United States and Ukraine continued to negotiate the conclusion of a raw materials agreement over the weekend, according to the White House on Sunday.

"The Ukraine deal is going to get done. The negotiators were working hard over the weekend," National Security Advisor Mike Waltz said on US television when asked whether the deal would come about.

However, he did not want to reveal any more details and somewhat evasively pointed out that such an agreement was at the top of the agenda for US President Donald Trump and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.

The agreement would give the United States access to Ukraine's mineral resources, particularly rare earths, which are crucial for high-tech industries.

A memorandum of understanding on the deal was signed by both sides last week, aiming to finalize the text of the agreement by Saturday, though a day later it remains unclear why the agreement has not yet been officially sealed and what the current status is.

For Ukraine, the deal represents a bid to secure the US as along-term protective ally, which the Trump administration has not agreed to.

Photo: MIA archive