Trump says disappointed with Putin, will shorten 50-day ultimatum
US President Donald Trump has expressed his disappointment with Vladimir Putin and his intention to reduce the 50-day deadline for a ceasefire in Ukraine.
"We could have made an agreement five times already. I've talked a lot with President Putin, and the talks have been going very well - each of those five or four times that we've discussed, many times. And then President Putin goes out and starts launching missiles into some city like Kyiv, and kills a lot of people in a nursing home, and the bodies are lying in the streets. And I say - that's not the way to do it. So let's see what happens. I'm very disappointed, I'm disappointed in President Putin. So we're going to have to review it, and I'm going to reduce that 50 days that I gave him to a lesser number, because I think I already know the answer what's going to happen," Trump told reporters on Monday.
As reported, the week before last, Trump said, and White House Spokesperson Caroline Levitt confirmed, that if a settlement to the war in Ukraine is not reached within 50 days, the US will impose 100% tariffs and secondary sanctions on Russia. "Countries that buy oil from Russia will also be subject to sanctions, and, of course, this will cause deep damage to the Russian economy," Levitt said.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessant believes that if the US imposes secondary tariffs on Russia, then Europe should do the same.
On July 23, US Energy Secretary Chris Wright said that imposing sanctions on Russian oil as a tool to pressure Russia on the Ukrainian issue is a real possibility.
On July 25, Trump suggested introducing secondary sanctions against Russia even earlier than the deadline he announced. When asked by a reporter during a briefing on Friday whether he was close to imposing secondary sanctions on Russia, the head of state replied: "We are looking at this whole situation. We may have to impose secondary sanctions on them." Asked whether he was considering imposing secondary sanctions sooner than 50 days later, Trump replied: "Maybe, yes."
