Hello and welcome to NewsHour.
It's coming to you live from the BBC World Service Studios in central London.
I'm Tim Franks.
Donald Trump has made it clear from the get-go that he's not just going to get things done,
he's going to do them fast.
Famously, he promised to end Russia's war in Ukraine within 24 hours of returning to office.
Today,
his Secretary of State Marco Rubio gave vent to some frustration at the lack of progress in reaching a deal.
Mr. Rubio was speaking after more than a day of meeting European politicians in Paris.
U.S. patience, he said, was running thin.
Out of Moscow today,
the Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov insisted
that Russia was earnestly seeking a way to push negotiations on.
Ongoing contacts are quite complicated because, naturally,
the topic of a peace settlement in Ukraine is not an easy one.
Russia is committed to resolving this conflict, ensuring its own interests, and is open to dialogue.
Russia, which we know it did, you've said the White House was impatient,
and Donald Trump has articulated his desire for Russia to get moving,
but he's very much treated Moscow with a carrot and Ukraine with a stick.
It has not translated into further sanctions for Moscow, still,