US President Donald Trump has announced to shorten the deadline he gave Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the war in Ukraine, signalling growing frustration over a lack of progress on a ceasefire. Speaking in Scotland on Monday during a meeting with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Trump said he would no longer wait the full 50 days he had initially offered Putin earlier this month.“I’m disappointed in President Putin, very disappointed in him,” Trump said, as quoted by news agency AFP, adding, “We’re going to reduce that 50 days to something like 10 or 12. I think I already know what’s going to happen.”Ukraine praised Trump for saying he would cut the 50-day deadline. “Thanks to President Trump for standing firm and delivering a clear message of peace through strength,” Ukrainian presidential aide Andriy Yermak said on social media, adding, “When America leads with strength, others think twice.”Trump had originally warned Putin of severe economic penalties if the conflict wasn’t halted by early September. These included 100 percent secondary tariffs on Russia and its trading partners, a move that would force any country continuing trade with Moscow to pay a steep price to sell goods in the US. This could affect nations like India and China, which still maintain trade relations with Russia.Trump told reporters at Turnberry that the decision to shorten the timeline was made because ceasefire hopes had repeatedly collapsed. “We thought we had that settled numerous times,” he said, “and then President Putin goes out and starts launching rockets into some city like Kyiv and kills a lot of people in a nursing home or whatever — you have bodies lying all over the street.”The US President has in recent weeks begun expressing unusually harsh criticism of Putin. “There’s a bit of an issue with him,” he remarked, as per Politico. Although Trump has had several discussions with the Russian leader, even claiming they came close to ceasefire terms five times, little concrete progress has been made.Trump also addressed the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, stating that a ceasefire there was “possible” and urging international partners to share the responsibility. He criticised Hamas for reportedly stealing aid and added, “It’s not a US problem. It’s an international problem.”
