Trump says he’s disappointed with Putin
Donald Trump has presented a new short deadline for Russia to agree to a ceasefire over the war in Ukraine, “10 or 12 days” starting Monday.
The US president said there was no progress towards peace and “there is no reason” to wait any longer.
Two weeks ago, Trump said President Vladimir Putin had spent 50 days to end the war or that Russia faced serious tariffs.
Speaking at a press conference in Scotland, Trump said he would confirm the new deadline on Monday or Tuesday, but repeatedly poses the threat of imposing sanctions and secondary tariffs on Moscow.
At the beginning of July, he said it would be a 100% tax imposed on countries that trade with Russia.
This means that the goods are so expensive that US companies choose to buy cheaper from elsewhere, losing revenue in both Russia and the countries they trade with.
After a meeting with Scotland’s British Prime Minister Kiel Starmer, Trump once again expressed his disapproval of Putin’s actions in Ukraine.
He refused to tell him whether Putin felt he was “lying” to him, but Trump highlighted the contrast between the rhetoric of the Russian president during a one-on-one conversation and the “lobed” missiles in Ukrainian cities.
“We were going to have a ceasefire and peace…and then suddenly you’re flying away to Kiev and elsewhere,” Trump lamented, adding that he thought it was possible to negotiate, but now he thought it was “very slow in the process.”
“I’ll forget about it, I’m not going to talk about it anymore. This happened on too many occasions and I don’t like it,” he said, but he also insisted that he and Putin are doing well all the time.
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Trump refused to tell him whether Putin felt “a lying” to him.
Trump also said he “is no longer interested in meetings” – a line that was immediately flashed in major Russian media.
Putin has never commented on the time frame. When the first 50-day deadline was first announced, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov only called it “very serious,” but added that Moscow would need time to analyze it.
Referring to the latest developments on Monday afternoon, Russian MP Andrei Gulyov said Trump’s ultimate was “not Moscow, not the forefront, not Moscow,” and Russia has the power of “arms, principles, will.”
When Trump first mentioned the shortened deadline, Ukraine’s presidential chief Andry Yamac praised him for “transmitting a clear message of peace through power,” adding that Putin “respects only one power.”
Over the past few months, Russia has stepped up its attacks on Ukraine, launching swarms of drones and missiles at cities, and continuing to push summer attacks in the east of the country.
Thousands of prisoners were exchanged during three ceasefire talks between Russia and Ukraine, hosted by Turkey, but there was no real progress in agreeing to a ceasefire.
It is unclear how the two sides could reach an agreement to halt the fighting within 12 days after three and a half years of bloody conflict.
All Russia’s prerequisites for peace, including Ukraine becoming a neutral state, dramatically reducing its military forces and abandoning the NATO aspirations, are unacceptable for Kiev and its Western partners.
Peskov said in the round of his talk last week that an hour-long talk was “nearly impossible.”
