By Jeff Mason and Steve Holland

Item 1 of 2 U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to reporters aboard Air Force One during travel to Palm Beach, Florida, from Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, U.S., November 25, 2025. REUTERS/Anna Rose Layden

[1/2] U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to reporters aboard Air Force One during travel to Palm Beach, Florida, from Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, U.S., November 25, 2025. REUTERS/Anna Rose Layden Purchase Licensing Rights , opens new tab

ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE, Nov 25 (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday backed away from a Thursday deadline for Ukraine to agree to a U.S.-backed peace plan, saying “the deadline for me is when it’s over.”

Trump, speaking to reporters on board Air Force One as he flew to Florida for the Thanksgiving holiday, said U.S. negotiators were making progress in discussions with Russia and Ukraine, and Moscow had agreed to some concessions. He did not detail them.

A U.S.-based framework for ending the war, first reported last week, prompted fresh concerns that the Trump administration might be willing to push Ukraine to sign a peace deal heavily tilted toward Moscow.

Trump said his envoy Steve Witkoff would be traveling to Moscow soon to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and that his son-in-law Jared Kushner, who helped negotiate the Gaza deal that brought about an uneasy ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war, was also involved.

Trump in recent days had set the Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday as the day when he wanted to see Ukraine agree to a deal to bring about an end to Russia’s war in Ukraine.

But he and his aides have backed away from a firm deadline and now say they would like an agreement as soon as possible.

Trump said it appeared that Russia had the upper hand in the war and that it would be in Ukraine’s best interests to reach an agreement.

He said some Ukraine territory “might be gotten by Russia anyway” over the next couple of months.

Trump said security guarantees for Ukraine were being negotiated with Europeans.

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. , opens new tab

Suggested Topics:

Jeff Mason is a White House Correspondent for Reuters. He has covered the presidencies of Barack Obama, Donald Trump and Joe Biden and the presidential campaigns of Biden, Trump, Obama, Hillary Clinton and John McCain. He served as president of the White House Correspondents’ Association in 2016-2017, leading the press corps in advocating for press freedom in the early days of the Trump administration. His and the WHCA’s work was recognized with Deutsche Welle’s “Freedom of Speech Award.” Jeff has asked pointed questions of domestic and foreign leaders, including Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un. He is a winner of the WHCA’s “Excellence in Presidential News Coverage Under Deadline Pressure” award and co-winner of the Association for Business Journalists’ “Breaking News” award. Jeff began his career in Frankfurt, Germany as a business reporter before being posted to Brussels, Belgium, where he covered the European Union. Jeff appears regularly on television and radio and teaches political journalism at Georgetown University. He is a graduate of Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism and a former Fulbright scholar.

Read Next

ago United Kingdom category

ago United Kingdom category

ago Europe category

ago Business category

ago Business category

The bodies of two climbers, including one from the U.S., have been recovered after the pair fell to their deaths from New Zealand’s highest mountain during a summit attempt, police said on Wednesday.

Site Index

About Reuters

Stay Informed

Information you can trust

Reuters, the news and media division of Thomson Reuters, is the world’s largest multimedia news provider, reaching billions of people worldwide every day. Reuters provides business, financial, national and international news to professionals via desktop terminals, the world’s media organizations, industry events and directly to consumers.

Read More