THE Donald Trumpstated on Friday (22.08.2025) that he would give to the Vladimir Putin “A few weeks”, further extending his deadline for possible consequences against Moscow after urging the Russian leader to meet with his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodimir Zelenski in the hope of ending the war.
Asked by CNN about how he will react if Vladimir Putin does not come to the negotiating table, Donald Trump replied: “We will see. I’ll see who’s to blame. “
“If there are reasons, I will understand. I know exactly what I’m doing. We will see if they have a meeting or not, it is interesting to see that. And if they don’t meet, why didn’t they meet? Because I told them to arrange a meeting, “the US president said.
“But I will know in two weeks what I’m going to do,” he added, repeating the same timetable he has repeatedly given to see Putin’s sincere willingness to end the war in Ukraine.
And now ‘what is going through’
The latest comments come as the momentum around the peace talks has retreated, with no indication that the steps for the bilateral meeting promoted by the White House are going.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said earlier yesterday that there were no plans for a meeting between the two leaders.
After Trump met with Putin in Alaska on August 15 and hosted Zelenski and European leaders in the White House shortly thereafter, he had implied a bilateral meeting, possibly followed by a trilateral meeting in which he would attend himself.
Trump repeated the two -week time frame several times. “We’ll see what happens. I think in two weeks, we will know where I go, because I go in one direction or another, and they will learn where. “
Trump’s statements to reporters were made after he called them to announce that the draw for the 2026 World Cup will take place in the center of Kennedy in December. The US president was wearing a hat that read “Trump was right for everything” and next to him was FIFA President Gianni Infantino, as well as US Vice President Jay Di Vance.
Putin’s invitation to the World?
Journalists found an opportunity to ask him about Ukraine, but Trump himself made sure to connect the World Cup with Putin.
Showing reporters a photo of himself and Putin from their meeting in Alaska, which he told him by the Russian president, Trump said:
“I just sent me a photo of someone who wants to be there (in the World).”
“He showed a lot of respect for me and to our country, but not so much respect for others,” Trump said, adding that he was going to sign the photo for Putin, who, as he implied, could come to the US for the World Cup.
“It can come and may not, depending on what happens. We have a lot to happen in the next two weeks. “