President Trump has set a firm two-week window for Russian President Vladimir Putin to demonstrate whether he’s genuinely working toward ending the conflict in Ukraine — a move that comes even as the Kremlin announced there are no plans for a meeting between the two leaders.
“We’re going to find out whether or not he’s tapping us along or not, and if he is, we’ll respond a little bit differently, but it will take about a week and a half to two weeks,” Trump said Wednesday during a press briefing in the Oval Office.
When asked if he believed Putin was sincerely aiming to bring the war to a close, Trump responded, “I can’t tell you that, but I’ll let you know in about two weeks.”
Earlier this week, Trump expressed growing concern over Russia’s behavior, criticizing the Kremlin for avoiding meaningful negotiations and escalating hostilities. “When I see rockets being shot into cities, that’s no good. We aren’t going to allow it,” he remarked, clearly upset by the increase in airstrikes targeting Ukrainian civilian centers.
Despite Trump’s mounting frustration, Russian government spokesperson Dmitry Peskov stated on Thursday that Putin has no intention of speaking with Trump in the near future. This came as Russian troops continued their offensive in Ukraine, seizing three additional villages in the eastern part of the country.
Trump’s tone toward Putin has sharpened considerably in recent days. He had held what he believed to be a productive two-hour discussion with the Russian leader last week, thinking it had resulted in an agreement to begin ceasefire negotiations.
However, the Kremlin’s actions since that conversation — including the most intense military assault on Ukraine since the invasion began — have left Trump furious. He publicly accused Putin of having “gone absolutely CRAZY” and reiterated that he was “playing with fire” by avoiding peace discussions.
Putin claimed just last week that Russia was willing to cooperate with Ukraine on a memorandum aimed at formalizing a peace agreement, including plans for a truce. According to Russian officials, they are currently working on their version of the document but have not provided a timeline for when it will be finalized.
Ukrainian officials have voiced skepticism over the delay, interpreting it as a sign that Moscow is preparing unreasonable terms that could derail the entire peace process.
“The Russians’ fear of sending their ‘memorandum’ to Ukraine suggests that it is likely filled with unrealistic ultimatums, and they are afraid of revealing that they are stalling the peace process,” Ukraine’s foreign ministry spokesman, Heorhii Tykhyi, wrote on X on Thursday.
{Matzav.com}