Trump Sets 20-Day Deadline for Putin to End Ukraine War; Kremlin Calls for Pre-Summit Negotiations
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov stated that any potential meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and former U.S. President Donald Trump must be preceded by a thorough preparatory process focused on resolving key issues related to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.
Speaking at a press briefing on Monday, Peskov emphasized that a summit between the two leaders could not take place without prior technical and political groundwork. He noted that discussions on Ukrainian settlement proposals should occur at the expert level, rather than being addressed directly by heads of state.
“Before any meeting, clear settlement frameworks must be established and later endorsed at the highest level—not the other way around,” Peskov said. He reiterated Russia’s stance that technical negotiations must precede any political engagement between leaders.
In the same context, Peskov added that a possible meeting between President Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky would not be held until two official memoranda outlining the proposed settlement plans between Moscow and Kyiv are finalized. He stressed that such a meeting would require prior agreement on both political and procedural parameters.
Meanwhile, former U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Monday that he is shortening the deadline he had previously set for President Putin to end the war in Ukraine. Speaking from Scotland during a meeting with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Trump stated, “I’m giving Putin a new final deadline of 10 to 20 days to end the war, instead of the earlier 50-day timeline.” He added, “We’re not seeing any progress, and there’s no reason to keep waiting,” expressing disappointment with the Russian president’s approach.
Trump has previously expressed his willingness to meet with Putin in person and has maintained that any such summit should focus on achieving diplomatic solutions to the Ukraine conflict. The Kremlin, for its part, has consistently underscored that a high-level meeting must be the culmination of extensive technical negotiations, not the starting point.
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