Russian forces have reportedly “increased the intensity” of their attacks in Ukraine during what Secretary of State Marco Rubio described as a crucial week for peace negotiations.

According to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, there were 177 engagements in the past 24 hours, including 91 airstrikes targeting Ukrainian positions and settlements. These clashes occurred despite Russian President ‘s recent announcement of a three-day ceasefire in May to commemorate the 80th anniversary of Victory Day.

Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi, head of Ukraine’s military, stated on Wednesday that “Despite loud statements of ceasefire readiness for the May holidays, the occupiers have significantly increased the intensity of the fighting.”

Rubio, during an appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday morning, indicated that a peace agreement between Ukraine and is “still not there,” but emphasized the importance of the coming week for progress.

 

Rubio explained that “The last week has been about figuring out how close are these sides really, and are they close enough that this merits a continued investment of our time as a mediator in this regard.”

He added, “This week is going to be a very important week at which we need to make a determination about whether this is an endeavor 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 in some cases.”

Rubio also noted, “We’ve made real progress, but the last couple steps of this journey were always going to be the hardest,” and stressed, “It needs to happen soon. We cannot continue to, as I said, to dedicate time and resources to this issue if it’s not gonna come to fruition.”

 

The reported that President Donald Trump aims to use “whatever it takes” to facilitate peace talks between and Putin, including potentially imposing further sanctions on Russia.

Over the weekend, Trump posted on Truth Social, “This is Sleepy Joe Biden’s War, not mine.”

“It was a loser from day one, and should have never happened, and wouldn’t have happened if I were President at the time. I’m just trying to clean up the mess that was left to me by Obama and Biden, and what a mess it is. With all of that being said, there was no reason for Putin to be shooting missiles into civilian areas, cities and towns, over the last few days,” Trump wrote. “It makes me think that maybe he doesn’t want to stop the war, he’s just tapping me along, and has to be dealt with differently, through ‘Banking’ or ‘Secondary Sanctions?’ Too many people are dying!!!”

Digital’s Anders Hagstrom and Stephen Sorace contributed to this report.

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