Trump Faces Choices on Russia-Ukraine Talks as Peace Deal Deadline Passes
The president wanted Moscow and Kyiv to come to terms by Thanksgiving. Negotiations are now stalled, leaving the White House to decide if an agreement is possible anytime soon.
Just two weeks ago, President Trump set a Thanksgiving deadline for Ukraine to agree to a peace treaty with Russia, putting on the table a proposal with elements that could have been drafted by the Kremlin.
Now, it seems clear he will have to wait — maybe weeks, maybe past the fourth anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in late February.
A Ukrainian delegation is expected to meet on Thursday with Mr. Trump’s negotiators, keeping alive hope for some progress. But President Vladimir V. Putin signaled yet again this week that he was not budging from his hard-line demands, leaving Mr. Trump’s envoys with no breakthrough to show for their five-hour meeting with the Russian leader in Moscow on Tuesday.
That leaves Mr. Trump with a difficult but familiar set of choices. Does he pressure Ukraine to make even more concessions — as he attempted two weeks ago — even if that means endangering the country’s sovereignty? Does he eventually walk away, as he has suggested at some moments that he might, even if that admits failure in an effort to end a war that he had promised to solve in 24 hours?
