This opinion was expressed by Volodymyr Khandohii, President of the Ukrainian Foreign Policy Association and Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, on Espreso TV."From the very beginning, when the figure of 50 days was announced, it was met with great surprise by many political figures. Many countries voiced their opinions on the matter, saying that 50-day ultimatums are not how things are done. In fact, the world saw those 50 days as a kind of carte blanche for Putin to calmly continue his aggression against Ukraine, believing he wouldn’t face any response from the United States. It seems to me that there was, if not direct political pressure on the Trump administration or on Trump himself, then at least a general political atmosphere surrounding this so-called ultimatum. And beyond that, there were very specific developments, namely, Putin’s continued bombing of Ukraine, which, I believe, pushed Trump to reconsider. There was also internal pressure from his advisers and from people more sympathetic to Ukraine. They pushed him to make a more thoughtful decision and reduce this, let’s say, deadline to 10–12 days," he said.Volodymyr Khandohii believes that overall, this is a positive development — one that, among other things, indicates that Trump’s perception of Russia’s position is continuing to evolve.In his view, internal dissatisfaction within the U.S. president is also growing over the actions of the Russian leader."And it seems to me that Trump is increasingly realizing that this person, and Russia in general, responds primarily to strength. So let’s see, let’s wait for these 10–12 days. We know that Trump often changes his approaches and positions, not necessarily strategic ones, but certainly tactical. So I don’t rule out the possibility that something could happen during this period that will prompt him to make further decisions. The unpredictability of the U.S. president has already become a hallmark of his presidency. So, let’s see. In general, I still view this as a positive development that brings this track closer to some kind of final stage. Will it lead to peace? Probably not. Will it force Russia to come to the negotiating table? Also unlikely. But the platform is open, and Ukraine’s offer remains on the table. We will continue to monitor the situation," the diplomat added.On July 14, Donald Trump stated that he would impose secondary tariffs on Russia, potentially up to 100%, if a peace agreement with Ukraine was not reached within 50 days. On July 29, U.S. President Donald Trump said he was disappointed in Russian leader Vladimir Putin and would to shorten the 50-day deadline he had given for reaching a peace deal with Ukraine.