Trump gives Russia 12 days to broker Ukraine ceasefire

President Donald Trump on Monday moved up his deadline for Russia to reach a ceasefire agreement with Ukraine or face severe economic pressure from the United States. The president now says Russia has 10 to 12 days to broker a ceasefire, as opposed to the 50-day window Trump initially established about two weeks ago. The U.S. president adjusted the terms of his ceasefire ultimatum for Russia while meeting with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Monday. Russian and Ukrainian delegations met last week but did not announce any breakthroughs in peace negotiations.

Trump described being very disappointed in Russian President Vladimir Putin and confirmed that the pair had spoken about the ceasefire issue. The president also hinted at levying additional tariffs against Russia as a result of the lackluster conversation. Little progress has been made, he said. Russia could be rich right now if it hadn’t opted to spend all its money on war, Trump said. The U.S. president is no longer interested in talking anymore, adding that he at first thought that Putin wanted to end the conflict swiftly.

How did the ceasefire talks go last week? Both Russia and Ukraine sent delegations to meet in Turkey last Wednesday, marking the third round of peace negotiations. The countries conducted a prisoner trade while meeting in Istanbul. Ukraine initially proposed an immediate and unconditional ceasefire, which was voided after Russia launched missile and drone strikes on Ukraine later that night. Russia’s foreign ministry reported Ukraine launched counterstrikes the same night.

Dig deeper: Read my report on negotiations restarting last week for more background.