U.S. President Donald Trump has given himself a two-week timeframe to evaluate the chances of achieving a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine, as diplomatic efforts intensify to end the ongoing war.
“I would say that within two weeks we will know one way or the other,” Trump told Newsmax TV when asked about the likelihood of reaching a peace agreement.
The announcement comes after Trump met Russian President Vladimir Putin last Friday at a summit in Alaska, which ended without a breakthrough. While Trump initially demanded a ceasefire as a prerequisite, he has since abandoned that position in pursuit of broader negotiations.
On Monday, Trump held talks at the White House with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and several European allies, fueling speculation that a direct meeting between Putin and Zelensky could soon take place.
However, Zelensky on Thursday accused Moscow of trying to “avoid the need for a meeting”, stressing that Russia was not showing willingness to end the war.
The Kremlin, in response, claimed Ukraine was uninterested in a “long-term peace,” criticizing Kyiv’s demands for security guarantees as “incompatible” with Moscow’s conditions.
Trump, who had promised during his campaign to end the war in just one day, has so far been unable to deliver major progress more than three years after Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.
This is not the first time Trump has given a two-week deadline on the issue. Back in May, he set a similar timeframe to judge Putin’s seriousness in pursuing peace, warning that Washington would “respond differently” if no progress was made.
