Trump's Ukraine deadline sparks rift on Capitol Hill amid stalled peace talks

Keane: Putin is trying to ‘wear down’ the will of U.S., Europe and Ukraine

Fox News senior strategic analyst Ret. Gen. Jack Keane discusses the potential for peace between Russia and Ukraine on ‘The Story.’

Lawmakers gave mixed reactions to the timeline that President Donald Trump laid out for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to accept a peace plan.

The new timeline, first reported by the Financial Times, gives Ukraine just "days" to consider the 20-point design floated by the administration after months of stalemate. According to the Times, the administration wants to have an answer by Christmas.

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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." 

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Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky gives a press conference in Kyiv on Feb. 26, 2025, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine.  (Getty Images)

Like Van Hollen, Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., said he believes the timeline doesn’t help reach a resolution. But he also questioned how firm the timeline request would be. Coons, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, noted Trump has made similar efforts to put pressure on peace talks in the past.

"Over and over and over and over, President Trump's attitude towards Russia and Ukraine has changed off again, on again, off again over the last 11 months," Coons said.

"It is long past time for President Trump to acknowledge that Russia is the aggressor, that Ukraine is a democracy, and that our vital national interest rests with defending Ukraine. He should not be giving timeline ultimatums," Coons said.

But not all lawmakers see the timeline as counterproductive. Republicans said it introduces a needed degree of pressure.

"I don't criticize the timelines, because I think that forces people to the table and to try to work it out," said Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., who is a longtime supporter of sending U.S. aid to Ukraine.

"But I do think that we have to make sure that we're clear on who the aggressor is and who the victim is and proceed accordingly," Fitzpatrick added.

Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., a member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, declined to praise or condemn the timeline. But in a pragmatic sense, he believes it helps Ukraine come to grips with the ugly reality of war and what he sees as an unsustainable drain to the country’s military power.

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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.