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By Brendan Cole
Senior Reporter
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President Donald Trump's original 50-day deadline he gave Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the war he started in Ukraine has expired, with no end in sight to the fighting.
On July 14, the U.S. president threatened "secondary tariffs" on Russia if Putin did not agree to a deal to end the war in the 50-day time frame, which has just ended.
Trump has since revised the deadline to 10 to 12 days and there has been a meeting between the U.S. and Russian leaders in Alaska. However, the White House has not announced any economic measures to punish Putin directly linked to not meeting the deadline.
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Yuriy Boyechko, CEO of Hope for Ukraine, which supports front-line communities caught up in the war, on Tuesday told Newsweek that Trump's deadline had "produced no progress."
When contacted for comment, the White House referred Newsweek to Trump's statement in August that "there might be very big consequences" for Russia if there is no end to the war and that he will know in the coming weeks what he is going to do.
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Why It Matters
Starting with a pledge that he could end the war in Ukraine within 24 hours, Trump's deadlines regarding ending Putin's aggression have proved malleable since he took office.
The 50-day time frame was aimed at pressuring Putin to come to the table. But as Russia's bombardment of Ukraine continues apace, there will be questions over whether Trump will make good on the threat of further tariffs, which could add to turbulence to Russia's economy and hurt its military machine.
Last week, the U.S. did indeed hit India with increased tariffs for its goods in response to New Delhi for buying Russian oil, which the White House says is funding Russia's war on Ukraine.
The move, which doubles the levies on Indian goods to 50 percent, could be seen as the kind of secondary tariff that Trump had been threatening. But it has been criticized by New Delhi which has accused Washington of hypocrisy given that China, the largest purchaser of Moscow's energy resources, did not face similar measures.
What To Know
During a joint news conference on July 14 in the White House alongside NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, Trump said the U.S. would impose "severe tariffs" on Russia unless it agreed to a deal on ending the war in Ukraine within 50 days.
He said that the tariffs would be "about 100 percent" and would be "secondary tariffs," suggesting that countries buying Russian energy products like oil and gas, with China and India the biggest purchasers, would be hardest hit.
Trump's ultimatum was seen as his toughest stance toward Moscow following growing public anger at Putin's intransigence in ending the war. But critics said it still gave Putin leeway to continue military operations for weeks before the deadline expired.
However, much has happened since then and on July 29 Trump shortened the time frame to 10 to 12 days, which brought forward the deadline for progress to August 7-9.
Trump has since proceeded to host Putin at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage on August 15. After a three-hour meeting, though, no new sanctions were announced and the Russian president has not formally agreed to a ceasefire.
But Russia's continuing barrage of drones, cruise and ballistic missiles exemplified the lack of momentum of U.S. peace efforts and the original 50-day deadline has expired without the breakthrough Trump had hoped for.
Hope for Ukraine's Boyechko said Putin used the 50 days "very well" by ending his diplomatic isolation and meeting with a leader of the free world, while convincing Trump there was no immediate need for a ceasefire.
Trump has been unable to follow through on his promises to apply economic sanctions as Putin intensifies his attacks on civilians in Ukraine, Boyechko added.
Brett Erickson, a sanctions expert and adviser to Seton Hall's School of Diplomacy and International Relations, told Newsweek that if Trump did not impose secondary sanctions after Russia's largest strikes on Kyiv, he never will. "Putin knows it, and he's recalibrating accordingly," he said.
Last weekend's Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit showed the leaders of China, Russia and India come together at a time when U.S. sanctions are supposed to serve as a counterweight, Erickson said.
"It highlights the real risk that Washington's economic tools are losing credibility exactly when they are being tested against a more unified bloc of adversaries," he added.
A White House official referred Newsweek on Tuesday to comments Trump had made on August 25 that Russia could face substantial consequences, stressing that the war needs to end.
"It will be an economic war that will be bad for Russia, and he doesn't want that. As he stated, he will know in the coming weeks what he is going to do," the White House said, noting Trump's previous comments that this could consist of "massive sanctions or massive tariffs or both."
Another option Trump raised was doing nothing and saying "it's your fight."
What People Are Saying
Boyechko also told Newsweek: "The 50-day deadline President Trump set on July 14 produced no progress toward peace. On the contrary, we see Putin intensifying his attacks on civilians in Ukraine and he was able to sell to White House as retaliation for Ukrainian strikes against the Russian oil industry."
Erickson also told Newsweek: "Secondary sanctions are theater. The missiles over Kyiv prove it....they were never meant to be a weapon, just a talking point."
What Happens Next
Trump has floated hosting a trilateral peace summit with Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, which would be dependent on Moscow agreeing to pre-meeting security guarantees.
Trump also said he spoke with Putin and had begun "the arrangements for a meeting" between Putin and Zelensky, although whether any summit will take place, or further economic punishment for Moscow will ensue, is unclear.
Update 09/02/25, 4:36 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with comment from the White House.
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