UK foreign secretary: Trump shifts focus on ending Ukraine war to April

The elected President of the United States, Donald Trump, is distancing himself from his earlier statement claiming he could end Russia’s war in Ukraine within a day, with new expectations pointing towards Easter, said UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy.

Lammy has welcomed the change, noting that Trump’s rhetoric is shifting after he originally made bold claims during his election campaign, Caliber.Az reports via foreign media.

In remarks made recently, Lammy explained, “Donald Trump is not yet in power. I think the indications are, from what I’ve seen over the last few days, a slight pushback on this sense that somehow a deal will be achieved on January 21. I think that’s now unlikely. And we’re hearing this actually the timetable’s moved down somewhat … towards Easter.”

This shift in expectations aligns with the date when Roman Catholics, Greek Catholics, and Orthodox Christians will celebrate Easter together on April 20 this year.

Trump had previously made a bold promise in September, saying that if he won the US elections, he would call Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin on his first day in office, and a deal would be reached within 24 hours.

However, Trump’s future special envoy to Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, provided a more measured tone during an interview on January 8. Kellogg suggested that the focus would be on reaching a resolution to the conflict within 100 days, with an agreement “in the near term.”

By Aghakazim Guliyev