Trump says no firm deadline for Ukraine, Russia to reach peace deal

U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday backed away from a Thursday deadline for Ukraine to agree to a U.S.-backed peace plan and shrugged off a report that U.S. negotiator Steve Witkoff coached the Russians on how to approach him on the topic.

Trump, speaking to reporters on board Air Force One as he flew to Florida for the Thanksgiving holiday, said U.S. negotiators were making progress in discussions with Russia and Ukraine, and Moscow had agreed to some concessions. He did not detail them.

A U.S.-based framework for ending the war, first reported last week, prompted fresh concerns that the Trump administration might be willing to push Ukraine to sign a peace deal heavily tilted toward Moscow.

Trump said his envoy Steve Witkoff would be traveling to Moscow to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin next week and that his son-in-law Jared Kushner, who helped negotiate the Gaza deal that brought about an uneasy ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war, was also involved.

Trump in recent days had set the Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday as the day when he wanted to see Ukraine agree to a deal to bring about an end to Russia’s war in Ukraine.

But he and his aides have backed away from a firm deadline and now say they would like an agreement as soon as possible.

“The deadline for me is when it’s over,” Trump said on the presidential aircraft.

Bloomberg News reported that Witkoff, in a 14 October telephone call with Yuri Ushakov, the top foreign policy aide to Putin, said they should work together on a ceasefire plan for Ukraine and that Putin should raise it with Trump.

Bloomberg said Witkoff’s guidance included suggestions on setting up a Trump-Putin call before Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s White House visit later that week, and using the recently concluded Gaza agreement as a way in.

Asked about the report, Trump said he had not heard the recording of the call that Bloomberg based its story on but that he was not surprised because “that’s what a dealmaker does.”

“You know, that’s a very standard form of negotiation,” he said. “I would imagine he’s saying the same thing to Ukraine.”

Trump said it appeared that Russia had the upper hand in the war and that it would be in Ukraine’s best interests to reach an agreement.

He said some Ukraine territory “might be gotten by Russia anyway” over the next couple of months.

Trump said security guarantees for Ukraine were being negotiated with Europeans.

Zelenskyy says Ukraine ready to advance peace plan

Zelenskyy said on Tuesday he was ready to advance a U.S.-backed framework for ending the war with Russia and discuss disputed points with Trump in talks he said should include European allies.

In a speech to what is known as the coalition of the willing allies, a copy of which was seen by Reuters, Zelenskyy urged European leaders to hash out a framework for deploying a “reassurance force” to Ukraine and to keep backing it for as long as Russia showed no inclination to end its nearly four-year-old war.

“We firmly believe security decisions about Ukraine must include Ukraine, security decisions about Europe must include Europe,” Zelenskyy said, according to his speech text. “Because when something is decided behind the back of a country or its people, there is always a high risk it simply won’t work.”

“That framework is on the table, and we’re ready to move forward together with the USA, with the personal engagement of President Trump,” he said.

Zelenskyy could visit the U.S. in the next few days to finalise a deal with Trump, Ukraine’s national security chief Rustem Umerov said earlier on Tuesday, though there was no immediate confirmation of such a trip from the U.S. side.

Earlier on Tuesday, Trump said on social media that he would meet the leaders of Ukraine and Russia only when negotiations would be close to success.

“I look forward to hopefully meeting with President Zelenskyy and President Putin soon, but ONLY when the deal to end this War is FINAL or, in its final stages,” Trump wrote.

Russian officials have largely welcomed the Trump original plan as aligning with Moscow’s core demands but expressed reservations about the U.S.-Ukraine revisions, viewing them as deviations from Putin-Trump understandings. Kremlin rhetoric emphasizes that time favours Russia due to its battlefield gains, framing the process as a “win-win” for Putin—either a favourable deal or prolonged conflict eroding Western support for Kyiv.

With Reuters, edited by g.g.

Caption: US President Donald Trump (L) and First Lady Melania Trump (R) walk on the South Lawn of the White House before boarding Marine One in Washington, DC, USA, 25 November 2025. Trump decamped to his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida for the Thanksgiving holiday. EPA/AARON SCHWARTZ / POOL