Vance reveals further US plans to end Russo-Ukrainian war
US Vice President JD Vance has stated that he is "still optimistic" about the possibility of ending the war between Russia and Ukraine, noting that Washington is now waiting for Kyiv and Moscow to agree to engage directly with each other.
Vance was asked in an interview at the Munich Security Conference event in Washington how the US plans to act in a situation where the Russian government seems uninterested in ending the fighting.
"I'm not yet that pessimistic on this, I wouldn't say that the Russians are 'uninterested'," Vance said. "What I'd say is right now the Russians are asking for a certain set of concessions in order to end the conflict. We think they're asking for too much."
He recalled President Donald Trump's words that he might "walk away" if American efforts fail.
"The step that we would like to make right now is: we'd like both the Russians and the Ukrainians to actually agree on some basic guidelines for sitting down and talking to one another," said Vance. "Obviously, the United States is happy to participate in these conversations. But it's very important for the Russians and the Ukrainians to start talking to one another."
He acknowledged that there remains a wide gap between the Russian and Ukrainian positions on what would constitute an acceptable end to the war.
"We think the next step in the negotiations is to try to close that gulf," Vance said, adding that direct talks between the two sides are likely to be essential.
The US vice president made it clear that Washington is no longer prioritising the 30-day ceasefire proposal, which Ukraine had unconditionally accepted.
"Ukrainians have said they would agree to a 30-day ceasefire, we appreciate that," he stressed. "What the Russians have said is ‘a 30-day ceasefire is not in our strategic interests’. We've tried to move beyond the obsession with the 30-day ceasefire and [focus] more on what would the long-term settlement look like."
"We think that if cooler heads prevail here, we can bring this thing to a durable peace that will be economically beneficial for both the Ukrainians and the Russians, and most importantly, it will stop the destruction of human lives," Vance added.
Trump believes that Putin's proposal for a "three-day truce" is "a lot" compared to what happened before.
He also suggested that the Russian leader has become more willing to make peace after the recent drop in oil prices.
Meanwhile, Trump's special envoy on Ukraine and Russia, Keith Kellogg, has proposed the idea of a demilitarised zone that would be controlled by both Ukraine and Russia.