President Donald Trump, left, pictured alongside Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, right. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images; Genya Savilov/AFP via Getty Images.)
Where some lawmakers believe a sense of urgency is essential to drawing the parties to the table, others criticized the timeline as a tool that they believe is putting a disproportionate amount of pressure on Ukraine.
"I don’t think people should be given a deadline when it comes to defending their freedom and sovereignty," Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., said Wednesday.
Whether Ukraine will have to surrender some of its land has become the main sticking point amid broader conversations on the 20-point peace plan brokered by the United States. Zelenskyy has repeatedly said conceding territory is a line he won’t cross.
On Wednesday, in a post to X, he said he would work with Ukraine’s allies to find an acceptable resolution to the conflict.
"We continue to communicate with all our partners on a daily basis, virtually 24/7, to identify doable and realistic steps to bring the war to an end. Everything must be reliable and dignified for Ukraine," Zelenskyy said.
"We are finalizing work on the 20 points of a fundamental document that could define the parameters for ending the war, and we expect to deliver this document to the United States in the near future following our joint work with President Trump’s team and partners in Europe."
Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., leaves the House Republican Conference meeting at the Capitol Hill Club in Washington, June 13, 2018. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call)
"I'm not trying to take any sides on this, other than the longer this goes on, the more devastating it is to Ukraine post-war," Issa said. "If you look at this, like you look at a chessboard where you have 20 pawns and I have 10, and we're trading them one for one. Time is not on the side of the one that has 10."
"Time is [Zelenskyy’s] enemy, because every day that goes by that we're at a standstill, he doesn't become militarily weaker, but from a human asset [view], he's becoming weaker. And you know, this is not a sustainable war because he can't produce another generation of fighters to replace the ones that are being killed or maimed every day," Issa said.
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It’s unclear what the Trump administration would do if the conflict were to stretch past that window. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Leo Briceno is a politics reporter for the congressional team at Fox News Digital. He was previously a reporter with World Magazine.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trumps-ukraine-deadline-sparks-rift-capitol-hill-amid-stalled-peace-talks