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Trump Sets New Deadline of 10 or 12 Days for Russia to Act on Ukraine

In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, firefighters put out the fire in a fire department school following a Russian air attack in Kropyvnytskyi, Ukraine, Monday, July 28, 2025. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)
In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, firefighters put out the fire in a fire department school following a Russian air attack in Kropyvnytskyi, Ukraine, Monday, July 28, 2025. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)
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Trump Sets New Deadline of 10 or 12 Days for Russia to Act on Ukraine

In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, firefighters put out the fire in a fire department school following a Russian air attack in Kropyvnytskyi, Ukraine, Monday, July 28, 2025. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)
In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, firefighters put out the fire in a fire department school following a Russian air attack in Kropyvnytskyi, Ukraine, Monday, July 28, 2025. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)

US President Donald Trump set a new deadline on Monday of 10 or 12 days for Russia to make progress toward ending the war in Ukraine or face consequences, underscoring frustration with Russian President Vladimir Putin for the 3-1/2-year-old conflict.

Trump has threatened both sanctions on Russia and buyers of its exports unless progress is made. The fresh deadline suggests the US president is prepared to move forward on those threats after previous hesitation to do so.

Speaking in Scotland, where he is holding meetings with European leaders and playing golf, Trump said he was disappointed in Putin and shortening a 50-day deadline he had set on the issue earlier this month.

"I'm going to make a new deadline of about ... 10 or 12 days from today," Trump told reporters during a meeting with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. "There's no reason in waiting... We just don't see any progress being made."

There was no immediate comment from the Kremlin.

Ukraine welcomed the statement. Andriy Yermak, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's chief of staff, thanked Trump in a social media post for "standing firm and delivering a clear message of peace through strength."

Trump, who has expressed annoyance also with Zelenskiy, has not always followed tough talk about Putin with action, citing what he deems a good relationship that the two men have had previously.

On Monday, Trump indicated he was not interested in more talks with Putin. He said sanctions and tariffs would be used as penalties for Moscow if it did not meet Trump's demands.

"There's no reason to wait. If you know what the answer is going to be, why wait? And it would be sanctions and maybe tariffs, secondary tariffs," Trump said. "I don't want to do that to Russia. I love the Russian people."

Ukraine had proposed a summit between Putin and Zelenskiy before the end of August, but the Kremlin has said that timeline was unlikely and that a meeting could only happen as a final step to clinch peace.

Russia's foreign ministry said on Saturday that if the West wanted real peace with Ukraine, it would stop supplying Kyiv with weapons.

Trump has repeatedly voiced exasperation with Putin for pursuing attacks on Ukraine despite US efforts to end the war. Trump has played up successes in other parts of the world where the United States has helped to broker peace agreements and has been flattered by some leaders who suggest he should be given the Nobel Peace Prize.

"I'm disappointed in President Putin," Trump said on Monday. "I'm going to reduce that 50 days that I gave him to a lesser number because I think I already know the answer what's going to happen."

Trump, who is also struggling to achieve a peace deal in Gaza, has touted his role in ending conflicts between India and Pakistan as well as Rwanda and Congo. Before returning to the White House in January, Trump campaigned on a promise to end Russia's conflict with Ukraine in a day.

"We thought we had that settled numerous times, and then President Putin goes out and starts launching rockets into some city like Kyiv and kills a lot of people in a nursing home or whatever," Trump said. "And I say that's not the way to do it."

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World

Iran Summons French, German, Italian, UK Envoys Over Support for Protests

Cars burn in a street during a protest over the collapse of the currency's value, in Tehran, Iran, January 8, 2026. Stringer/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
Cars burn in a street during a protest over the collapse of the currency's value, in Tehran, Iran, January 8, 2026. Stringer/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
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Iran Summons French, German, Italian, UK Envoys Over Support for Protests

Cars burn in a street during a protest over the collapse of the currency's value, in Tehran, Iran, January 8, 2026. Stringer/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
Cars burn in a street during a protest over the collapse of the currency's value, in Tehran, Iran, January 8, 2026. Stringer/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters

Iran on Monday summoned diplomats in Tehran representing France, Germany, Italy and the UK to object to what it described as support by those countries for the protests that have shaken the country, its foreign ministry said.

The diplomats were shown a video of the damage caused by "rioters" and told their governments should "withdraw official statements supporting the protesters", the ministry said in a statement quoted by state television.

In Paris, the French foreign ministry confirmed that "European ambassadors" had been summoned by Iran.

World

Iran’s Traders, Frustrated by Economic Losses, Turn Against Clerics

Cars burn in a street during a protest over the collapse of the currency's value, in Tehran, Iran, January 8, 2026. Stringer/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
Cars burn in a street during a protest over the collapse of the currency's value, in Tehran, Iran, January 8, 2026. Stringer/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
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Iran’s Traders, Frustrated by Economic Losses, Turn Against Clerics

Cars burn in a street during a protest over the collapse of the currency's value, in Tehran, Iran, January 8, 2026. Stringer/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
Cars burn in a street during a protest over the collapse of the currency's value, in Tehran, Iran, January 8, 2026. Stringer/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters

Iran's bazaar merchants, the trader class who were the financial backbone of the 1979 revolution, have turned against the clerics they helped bring to power, fueling unrest over an economy that has morphed into full-blown anti-government protests.

Frustration among bazaar merchants, from small-scale shopkeepers to large wholesale traders, has grown as their political and economic clout in Iran has diminished over the decades while the elite Revolutionary Guards have tightened their grip on the economy, building sprawling and tightly held networks of power.

"We are struggling. We cannot import goods because of US sanctions and because only the Guards or those linked to them control the economy. They only think about their own benefits," said a trader at Tehran’s centuries-old Grand Bazaar, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The wave of protests that has engulfed the country, posing one of the toughest challenges ever to the clerical leadership, erupted in late December in Tehran's Grand Bazaar, where hundreds of shopkeepers denounced the sharp fall in the rial currency.

The demonstrations quickly swelled and turned political, challenging the Islamic Republic's legitimacy. Protesters burned images of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and chanted "Death ‌to the dictator" - ‌undeterred by security forces armed with tear gas, batons, and, in many cases, live ammunition.

Iran’s ‌rulers, ⁠while acknowledging economic difficulties, have ‌blamed their longtime foes the US and Israel for fomenting the unrest. They appear intent on holding onto power at any cost, backed by a security apparatus refined over decades of suppressing ethnic revolts, student movements, and protests over economic hardship and social freedoms.

A combination of international sanctions and the Guards' sprawling economic empire has limited the government's ability to ease the dire economic situation.

Tehran-based analyst Saeed Laylaz said the government has lost control over the situation.

"What is striking is that the unrest began in the bazaar. For merchants, the core issue isn’t inflation - it’s price volatility, which leaves them unable to decide whether to buy or sell," he said.

Economic disparities between ordinary Iranians and the clerical and security elite, along with economic mismanagement and state corruption - ⁠reported even by state media - have fanned discontent at a time when inflation is pushing the price of many goods beyond the means of most people.

Iran's rial currency has lost nearly ‌half its value against the dollar in 2025, with official inflation reaching 42.5% in December.

CONTROL ‍OF SECTORS FROM OIL TO CONSTRUCTION

Created by the republic's ‍late founder Khomeini, the Guards first secured an economic foothold after the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s, when clerical rulers allowed them ‍to invest in leading Iranian industries.

Their influence expanded exponentially over decades, benefiting from Khamenei's full backing and from opportunities created by Western sanctions, which effectively excluded Iran from the global financial and trading system.

The Guards now control vast sectors of the economy, from oil to transportation, communications, and construction.

Another trader said the crisis was not over, as the Guards have long proved adept at defending their economic interests.

"The government wants to resolve the problem, but it lacks the means and power in this system. The economy is not controlled by the government," said the trader, a 62-year-old carpet seller in Tehran.

All aspects of the country's sanctions-hit oil business have come under the growing influence of the ⁠Guards - from the shadow fleet of tankers that secretly ship sanctioned crude, to logistics and front companies selling the oil, mostly to China.

"No one knows how much of the oil money that the Guards get from selling Iran’s oil returns to the country ... they are too powerful to be questioned about it,” said a senior Iranian official, who asked not to be named.

During his 2013–2021 presidency, pragmatist Hassan Rouhani repeatedly clashed with the Guards, accusing them publicly of resisting budget cuts, while his attempts to curb their commercial networks and assets were largely frustrated.

THE ESTABLISHMENT RELIES ON THE GUARDS TO END UNREST

Even as it has relinquished economic power, the clerical establishment has relied on its loyal forces - the Guards and its affiliated Basij paramilitary - to violently crush ethnic uprisings, student unrest, and protests over economic hardship, preserving the political order.

"Given the sensitive circumstances when the country faces foreign threats, Khamenei cannot upset the Guards by curbing their economic influence. The establishment needs them to quell the protests and confront foreign threats," said an insider, close to Rouhani.

US-based rights group HRANA said it had verified the deaths of 544 people - 496 protesters and 48 security personnel - with 10,681 people arrested since ‌the protests began on December 28 and spread around the country. Reuters was unable to independently verify the tallies.

The authorities have not given numbers of casualties, but officials say many members of the security forces have been killed by "terrorists and rioters" linked to foreign foes, including the US States and Israel.

World

Greenland Says It Should Be Defended by NATO, Rejects Any US Takeover

A view of houses in Nuuk, Greenland, June 22, 2025. (AP)
A view of houses in Nuuk, Greenland, June 22, 2025. (AP)
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Greenland Says It Should Be Defended by NATO, Rejects Any US Takeover

A view of houses in Nuuk, Greenland, June 22, 2025. (AP)
A view of houses in Nuuk, Greenland, June 22, 2025. (AP)

Greenland's government said on Monday it will increase efforts to ensure the defense of the Arctic territory takes place under the auspices of NATO and again rejected US President Donald Trump's ambition to take over the island.

Trump has said the United States must own Greenland, an autonomous part of the Kingdom of Denmark, to prevent Russia ‌or China occupying the ‌strategically located and minerals-rich territory ‌in ⁠the future.

"All ‌NATO member states, including the United States, have a common interest in the defense of Greenland," the island's coalition government said in a statement, adding that it can in no way accept a US takeover of Greenland.

"As part of ⁠the Danish commonwealth, Greenland is a member of NATO and ‌the defense of Greenland ‍must therefore be through NATO," ‍the government said.

The European Union Commissioner ‍for Defense and Space Andrius Kubilius said earlier on Monday that any US military takeover of Greenland would be the end of NATO.

Trump first floated the idea of a US takeover of Greenland in 2019 during his first term ⁠in office, although he faces opposition in Washington, including from within his own party.

While Denmark has ruled Greenland for centuries, the territory has gradually been moving towards independence since 1979, a goal shared by all political parties elected to the island's parliament.

"We are a democratic society that makes our own decisions. And our actions are based on international law," Greenland's Prime Minister ‌Jens-Frederik Nielsen wrote on LinkedIn.