'50 days is a very long time' — EU welcomes new US action on Ukraine, hesitant on timeline, Kallas says
The European Union welcomed U.S. President Donald Trump's renewed push to bring Russia to the negotiating table, EU Special Envoy Kaja Kallas told the Telegraph in an article published July 14, adding that Washington's 50-day timeline is a "long time."
"On one hand, it is very positive that President Trump is taking on a strong stance on Russia... On the other hand, 50 days is a very long time if we see that they are killing innocent civilians," she said.
Earlier on July 14, Trump announced the White House will impose "severe tariffs" on Russia unless it agrees to a deal on ending the war in Ukraine within 50 days.
"We're gonna be doing very severe tariffs if we don't have a deal in 50 days. Tariffs that are about 100%, we call them secondary tariffs," he said.
Kallas called for Ukraine's allies to toughen their stance on Russia and continue supporting Kyiv so that Moscow may end its war against Ukraine amid intensified drone and missile attacks.
"It’s clear that we all need to put more pressure so they will also want peace, and it’s good the Americans are making the steps, and I hope they are giving military aid like Europeans are giving," Kallas said.
A day earlier, Trump announced the U.S. would supply additional Patriots to Ukraine, being reimbursed for their cost by NATO.
"We will send them Patriots, which they desperately need, because (Russian President Vladimir) Putin really surprised a lot of people. He talks nice and then bombs everybody in the evening. But there's a little bit of a problem there. I don't like it," he said.
Russian drone and missile attacks killed at least 6 people and injured another 30, Ukrainian officials reported early on July 14.
Ukraine regularly faces Russian attacks on its civilian infrastructure, encountering increased attacks from Moscow in recent weeks.
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