US President Donald Trump has set Aug. 8 as the deadline for Russia and Ukraine to reach a ceasefire agreement, a top US official announced during a United Nations Security Council briefing on Thursday.
“Both Russia and Ukraine must negotiate a ceasefire and durable peace. It is time to make a deal,” said senior US diplomat John Kelley, addressing the 15-member body in New York.
“President Trump has made clear this must be done by August 8. The United States is prepared to implement additional measures to secure peace.”
Kelley did not elaborate on what those measures might be, but the remark comes amid mounting bipartisan pressure on Trump to increase sanctions on Russia and ramp up military support to Ukraine following a surge in deadly Russian missile and drone attacks across the country.
The announcement marks the most explicit timeline the Trump administration has set since peace negotiations intensified earlier this summer, and follows the American president reportedly growing tired of the “bullsh*t” promises coming out of the Kremlin.
Ukraine’s leadership has not commented directly on the August 8 ultimatum, but President Volodymyr Zelensky has repeatedly said that any deal must preserve Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Russian officials have signaled they are willing to negotiate but have so far issued little more than ultimatums for peace.
The UN session was convened to discuss the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Ukraine, according to an official press release, where escalating Russian strikes in recent days have continued to kill dozens and damage critical infrastructure across the country.
But Russia, as a permanent member of the Security Council, requested the hearing.
“The Russian Federation is attempting to portray itself as a victim of so-called ‘Western interference,’” Ukraine’s representative said, per a UN video of the hearing.
“Yet there are not two parties attacking civilians… [Moscow is] a “ problem for peace and security in Ukraine, our region and globally.”