The Kremlin said on 29 July that it has “taken note” of President Donald Trump’s decision to shorten his deadline for a Ukraine cease-fire to about 10 days, warning that Russia’s military campaign will continue even as it remains open to talks that protect its own interests. Spokesman Dmitry Peskov called Trump’s remarks “serious” and said Moscow needs time to formulate a response, but he ruled out commenting on Trump’s claim that he is “no longer interested” in direct contact with Vladimir Putin. Trump first gave Moscow 50 days to end the war or face punitive measures, then this week threatened to impose 100 percent secondary tariffs on countries that keep trading with Russia if no truce is reached by early August. The shortened deadline follows a joint plan with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte for alliance members to finance new shipments of U.S. weapons, including Patriot air-defense systems, to Kyiv. Peskov earlier argued that expanded U.S., NATO and EU arms deliveries will be interpreted by Kyiv as encouragement to keep fighting rather than to negotiate. Hours after the Kremlin’s latest comments, Ukrainian officials said Russian missiles, glide bombs and drones struck 73 locations overnight, killing at least 27 civilians—16 of them at a prison in Zaporizhzhia—and damaging medical facilities in Dnipro. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy welcomed Washington’s tougher stance, while Moscow dismissed any ultimatum as unacceptable.