Trump has given Putin "two weeks" to end war in Ukraine three times already - CNN
US President Donald Trump has been saying since at least the end of April that he will take further steps to resolve the Russian-Ukrainian war within two weeks. However, so far, no clear plan of action has been announced by the American leader.
This is reported by CNN, Censor.NET informs.
It is noted that Trump has been setting two-week deadlines at least since the beginning of his first term in 2017 for political plans, long-awaited decisions, or uncertain important announcements, many of which have never been made.
What deadlines did Trump give?
Now that Trump is faced with the choice of imposing new sanctions on Moscow or abandoning attempts to mediate peace altogether, he reiterates that it will take about two weeks to determine whether Putin is serious about ending the war against Ukraine.
"I’ll tell you within two weeks whether Putin is tapping us along. If he is, we’ll respond a little differently. Putin is playing with fire," said the White House chief on 28 May, answering questions in the Oval Office about Putin's intentions.
At the same time, Trump did not specify what he expects to learn during these two weeks, which will make him finally assess the Russian leader's position.
He also did not specify what actions he would be ready to take after this period.
CNN reminded that back on 24 April, Trump invited the journalist to return with a question about further military assistance to Ukraine in two weeks.
"Let’s see what happens. You can ask that question in two weeks, and we’ll see," he said at the time.
Three days later, the republican repeated himself to a journalist who asked if he trusted Russia's dictator: "We’ll let you know in about two weeks,"
The publication notes that Wednesday, 28 May, was exactly two weeks after another statement by Trump on 14 May, when he promised to report soon whether Putin was "tapping him along".
Also on 19 May, the US president said that he would need about two more weeks to assess whether Ukraine was making enough efforts to end the war.
"I’d rather tell you in about two weeks from now because I can’t say yes or no," he added, as quoted by CNN.
