Trump’s new deadline for Russia 'positive step, but long overdue’: US senator

By Diyar Guldogan

WASHINGTON (AA) - US Sen. Jeanne Shaheen on Monday hailed President Donald Trump's new deadline for Russia to reach a peace deal with Ukraine but said it is "long overdue."

"Too many innocent lives are at stake for President Trump to let (Russian President Vladimir) Putin continue playing him for time. This shorter deadline is a positive step, but long overdue," Shaheen said in a statement.

Her remarks came after Trump on Monday threatened Russia with sanctions and secondary tariffs if it does not end the Ukraine war in "about 10 or 12 days," much earlier than a previous deadline.

"I’m going to make a new deadline, of about...10 or 12 days from today. There’s no reason for waiting. It was 50 days, I wanted to be generous, but we don’t see any progress being made," he told a joint news conference with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer at one of the president’s commercial golf clubs in Scotland.

Shaheen, a ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said Trump needs to match his words with real action and not let Putin "cross yet another red line."

"At the same time, we must continue to press forward in Congress on bipartisan legislation to impose punishing sanctions on the Kremlin and ensure Ukraine has the support it needs to finally bring Putin to the negotiating table," she added.