On Friday, Trump extended his self-imposed deadline for the Russian leader, giving him “a couple of weeks” to move toward peace in Ukraine — a line Trump has used before, and one he keeps pushing back.
Asked whether he might take no action if Putin doesn’t cooperate, Trump dodged: “We’ll see. I’ll see whose fault it is.”
He added, “If there are reasons why, I will understand that; I know exactly what I’m doing. We’re going to see whether or not they have a meeting, that will be interesting to see, and if they don’t, why didn’t they have a meeting? Because I told them to have a meeting.”
Trump claimed he’ll decide what to do within two weeks, but he’s said that before. This isn’t the first time he’s floated the idea of a two-week deadline for Putin to act.
“But I’ll know in two weeks what I’m going to do,” he said again Friday.
Despite Trump’s public pressure, there’s no sign a meeting between Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is actually happening. Russia’s top diplomat, Sergey Lavrov, made it clear earlier Friday: there are no plans for the two leaders to meet.
Trump had met with Putin in Alaska last week and welcomed Zelensky and European leaders to the White House earlier this week. He hinted at brokering talks between the two sides — maybe even joining the meeting himself. But that meeting hasn’t materialized, and the war continues.
“You understand that I wanted to have a meeting with those two. I could have been at the meeting, but a lot of people think that nothing’s going to come out of that meeting. ‘You have to be there.’ Maybe that’s true. Maybe it’s not, but we’re going to see in the meantime, people continue to die,” Trump said.
Again, he repeated the same line he’s been saying for months: “We’ll see what happens. I think in two weeks, we’ll know which way I’m going, because I’m going to go one way or the other, and they’ll learn which way.”
Trump also shared a photo of himself and Putin taken in Alaska. He said it was sent by Putin himself.
“I was just sent a picture from someone who wants to be there very badly,” Trump said, referring to the World Cup and hinting that Putin might attend. “He’s been very respectful of me and of our country, but not so respectful of others.”
Trump said he plans to sign the photo and send it back to Putin — depending on what unfolds over the “next couple of weeks.”
“He may be coming and he may not, depending on what happens,” Trump said. “We have a lot of things happening over the next couple of weeks.”
For now, Trump’s deadline remains a moving target. And so far, Putin is embarrassing him on the world stage.”
Watch the clip below:
🚨NEWSFLASH: Trump says he’s giving Putin another “couple of weeks” to meet with Zelensky after talks collapse – and Russia escalates MASSIVE bombing raids on Ukraine.
After that…will he give him another two weeks?? Looks like the Alaska “peace summit” photo-op was bullshit. pic.twitter.com/l5JscYl7Bi
— CALL TO ACTIVISM (@CalltoActivism) August 22, 2025
