In Scotland on Monday, President Trump said that he is shortening his original 50-day deadline for Russia to agree to a cease-fire with Ukraine to less than two weeks from now. He had imposed the deadline on July 14 after failing to reach a peace deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin through negotiations.
If Russia does not enter into a cease-fire by the end of the U.S. deadline, Trump has threatened to hit the country with additional sanctions and tariffs — including secondary measures against countries doing business with Russia.
“I’m going to make a new deadline, of about ten, ten or twelve days from today,” Trump told reporters in Scotland. “There’s no reason for waiting. It was 50 days. I wanted to be generous, but we just don’t see any progress being made.”
In explaining his rationale for reducing the deadline for Russia to reach a ceasefire, Trump cited Putin’s unwillingness to end long-range attacks on Ukraine. “We thought we had that settled numerous times and then President Putin goes out and starts launching rockets into some city like Kyiv and kills a lot of people in a nursing home or whatever,” the president said. “I’m very disappointed. I’m disappointed in President Putin.”
Trump asserted that he was shortening the 50-day deadline to a “lesser number because I think I already know the answer what’s going to happen.” The president later said that his administration would formally announce the policy change “tonight or tomorrow.” He indicated that, if a deal is not reached by the deadline, countries that do business with Russia would face secondary tariffs of 100 percent.
The change in Trump’s deadline comes hours after Russia launched a large drone and missile attack on Ukraine on Sunday night, forcing Poland and other NATO allies to scramble military aircraft in response. According to Ukraine’s air force, Russia launched 324 drones and seven missiles into the country, most of which were shot down or suppressed. No deaths from the attack have yet been reported, but eight people were injured in a Kyiv apartment building struck by Russia.
Trump’s comments in Scotland show his increasing frustration with Vladimir Putin as the president tries to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine. In a July 14 meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, Trump announced a plan for the United States to indirectly provide weapons to Ukraine through NATO allies, who would cover the cost.
In the same meeting, the president announced his original 50-day deadline for Russia to agree to a cease-fire, lest it face 100 percent tariffs on all exports to the United States. Trump previously signaled his support for a Senate bill that would tighten sanctions on Russia and authorize massive tariffs on countries that purchase Russian energy. That legislation has since stalled, however, as Republican leadership has sought to allow Trump to pursue unilateral action in negotiations with Putin.
Last week, the Trump administration approved a series of arms sales to Ukraine totaling hundreds of millions of dollars. That surge in weapons transfers contrasts sharply with a Defense Department decision made at the beginning of July to halt missile and ammunition shipments to Ukraine due to concerns over depleted U.S. stockpiles.
On July 8, however, Trump reversed the halt to weapons shipments. He had privately expressed frustration with the Pentagon’s decision, as he felt the policy was not properly coordinated with the White House before it was finalized.
“We get a lot of bulls*** thrown at us by Putin, if you want to know the truth,” Trump said during his announcement that the United States would restart weapons shipments to Ukraine. “He’s very nice all the time, but it turns out to be meaningless.”