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

By Jeff Mason and Steve Holland

ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE (Reuters) -U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday backed away from a Thursday deadline for Ukraine to agree to a U.S.-backed peace plan, saying “the deadline for me is when it’s over.”

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 soon to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin, 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.

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.

(Reporting by Jeff Mason and Andrea Shalal; Editing by Himani Sarkar, Don Durfee and Cynthia Osterman)