Trump gives Russia less than 2 weeks to end its war in Ukraine

Firefighters responding to a fire on a rooftop after a Russian strike in Kharkiv, Ukraine, July 24, 2025. (David Guttenfelder/The New York Times)

By Mathew Mpoke Bigg

President Donald Trump said Monday that he was “disappointed” with Russian President Vladimir Putin over the war in Ukraine, and said he would give Russia 10 to 12 days to end the conflict or face a new round of sanctions.

Trump had warned Moscow earlier this month that the United States would impose “very severe tariffs” if Russia did not agree to a peace deal within 50 days, but Monday he said he would bring that deadline forward.

“I’m going to make a new deadline of about 10 or 12 days from today. There’s no reason in waiting,” Trump told reporters in Scotland during a meeting with Prime Minister Keir Starmer of Britain. “We just don’t see any progress being made.”

If the Kremlin does not comply, “it would be sanctions and maybe tariffs, secondary tariffs,” he said. Trump has repeatedly threatened to punish Russia over its escalating attacks in Ukraine but so far has not followed through.

An imposition of new tariffs would be a shift for the White House, which excluded Russia from levies it imposed on a host of countries in April. And the threat to impose secondary tariffs — levies on any country that trades with Russia — could threaten trading partners, notably China and India, that import Russian oil and gas.

When Trump returned to the White House in January, he said he could bring peace to Ukraine immediately, but the war has continued with Russian forces on the offensive in eastern and northern Ukraine. Initially, Trump appeared to side with Putin, repeatedly criticizing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and suspending supplies of U.S. weapons to Ukraine.

But in April, Ukraine signed a deal with the United States to share its mineral reserves. And in recent weeks, as Russian missiles rained down on Ukrainian cities, Trump seemed to reverse course, partly in response to urging by allies in Europe and from NATO. He promised to renew the supply of weapons to Ukraine and toughened his language toward Putin.

Ukrainian officials were quick to thank Trump for shortening the deadline. Andriy Yermak, chief of staff for Zelenskyy, said in a post on social media that Trump’s comments showed he was committed to “peace through strength.”

For its part, Russia had largely shrugged off Trump’s previous 50-day deadline, noting that past deadlines set by Trump or his team had come and gone with little consequence. Putin has been determined to press what he sees as a growing battlefield advantage in the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which Russia launched more than three years ago.

The Russian leader has made it clear that he views it as out of the question to halt the fighting without extensive concessions by Ukraine, people close to the Kremlin have told The New York Times.

But Trump’s new deadline underscored his growing frustration with Putin’s resistance to compromise, even as the Kremlin has continued to shower the American president with compliments. Last week, Sergey Lavrov, Russia’s foreign minister, praised the Trump administration for its “reasonable approach” to Ukraine and its “readiness for dialogue.”

On Monday, Trump expressed disappointment with Putin and the Kremlin’s failure to agree to a ceasefire.

“Russia could be so rich right now,” Trump said. “Instead, they spend all their money on war. They spend everything on war and killing people.” That “doesn’t make sense to me, he said, adding of Putin, “I thought he would want to end this thing quickly.”