Welcome to The World in 10.
In an increasingly uncertain world, this is The Times' daily podcast dedicated to global security.
Today with me, Stuart Willey and Alex Dibble.
Donald Trump has this week sharply tightened his ceasefire deadline for the Russian president.
Speaking to reporters on Air Force One, he warned that without progress,
he'll impose tariffs and other measures in 10 days and he's not going to talk anymore to Vladimir Putin.
He also jolted India and China with a threat he could punish them for supporting Russia.
To help us understand how Vladimir Putin might be considering this ultimatum,
we're joined by Mark Katz, Emeritus Professor at George Mason University in Virginia.
and a longtime specialist in Russia's foreign policy and security.
Mark, about a week now until that new deadline, what's changed to cause this shift?
Well, you know,
I think that what Trump understands is that Putin was not going to take up the opportunity that President Trump provided him.
And so, you know, by having a deadline of 50 days,
that basically gives him a free pass to keep fighting.
for longer.
And so I think that the idea of, you know,
let's cut to the chase and let's move this down to 10 days,
since we're probably going to have to get the sanctions anyway,
may as well do it sooner rather than later.