Washington DC/IBNS: Amid a heightened escalation between India and Pakistan, the White House on Friday said that US President Donald Trump wants the conflict to “de-escalate as quickly as possible”.

Addressing a press briefing on Friday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said that diplomatic outreach efforts are on, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio remaining in constant communication with the leaders of both countries.

"The President has expressed that he wants this to de-escalate as quickly as possible. He understands these two countries have been at odds with one another for decades, long before President Trump was here at the Oval Office. However, he has good relations with the leaders of both countries. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has been in constant communication with the leaders of both countries, trying to bring this conflict to an end,” said Leavitt.

On Thursday, Marco Rubio spoke to both Indian Foreign Minister S Jaishankar and Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and called for an immediate de-escalation.

Rubio had expressed his support for a direct dialogue between the two nuclear-armed nations and encouraged efforts to improve communications.

A statement released by US Spokesperson Tammy Bruce had said: "Secretary Marco Rubio spoke today with Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar.  The Secretary emphasized the need for immediate de-escalation."

"He expressed U.S. support for direct dialogue between India and Pakistan and encouraged continued efforts to improve communications," the statement said.

A similar statement was released after his call with Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif.

However, US Vice President JD Vance on Thursday said the US would not intervene in the ongoing conflict between India and Pakistan that has escalated further in recent times after gunmen attacked and killed 26 people, mostly non-Muslim tourists, in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam.

“We are concerned about any time when nuclear powers collide and have a major conflict. We want this thing to de-escalate as quickly as possible. We can’t control these countries, as India has its gripes with Pakistan and Pakistan has responded to India,” Vance told Fox News.

“What we can do is try to encourage these folks to de-escalate, but we are not going to get involved in the middle of a war that is fundamentally none of our business and has nothing to do with America’s ability to control it,” he had said.

Two weeks after the Pahalgam attack took place, India launched Operation Sindoor, targeting terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). Since then, the two nations have been engaged in an escalatory situation across the border.