President Donald Trump is expected to deliver a statement that could prove decisive for the future course of the war in Ukraine.
According to the White House press office, the speech is scheduled for 2:00 PM Washington time (9:00 PM Kosovo time).
So far, it remains unclear what exactly Trump will announce, but the timing is significant: today marks the deadline Trump set for Russian President Vladimir Putin to agree to a peace deal with Ukraine.
Earlier this week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told Kyiv Post that Russian authorities have yet to demonstrate a willingness for genuine negotiations.
He recalled that exactly two weeks ago in Washington, Trump had given the Kremlin this two-week timeframe to indicate whether it was ready for high-level talks.
According to Zelensky, Ukraine is ready for dialogue, but Moscow continues to bet on prolonging the war.
“Ukraine is certainly ready for this. But the only thing Russia is doing is investing in further war. All their signals point to this,” Zelensky said, citing Putin’s visit to China for the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit as an example of Moscow avoiding and maneuvering — a tactic he reportedly favors.
In the context of Russia’s reluctance for negotiations, Zelensky stressed the need to maintain international pressure on Moscow.
“The whole world has said the fire must stop; everyone insists the war must end. The only one who wants war is Russia,” he added.
On August 21, Trump set a two-week deadline for peace talks between Kyiv and Moscow, warning that “after this, we may need to take a different approach.”
This followed a cryptic post on Truth Social, where Trump shared two images: one showing Putin in Alaska, and a historical image of former U.S. Vice President Richard Nixon with Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev, interpreted as a hint that Trump may finally be prepared to take a tougher stance toward Moscow.
