The US Vice President J.D. Vance said that there is a "very large gap" between Ukraine and Russia in terms of their vision for ending the war. Therefore, in the next 100 days, the Donald Trump administration will work to "try to bring these sides closer together".
J.D. Vance said this in an interview with Fox News.
Asked to comment on the state of negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, Vance said that the first and necessary step to resolving the conflict between Russia and Ukraine is for each side to make a “peace offer”.
"And itʼs already happened. The Ukrainians said, ʼThis is what we want.ʼ The Russians said, ʼThis is what we want.ʼ And now itʼs a matter of diplomacy to try to bring these two sides closer together. Because thereʼs a very big gap between what the Russians want and what the Ukrainians want," the US vice president believes.
Vance added that peace proposals from Ukraine and Russia have already been made public. During the next 100 days of Trumpʼs presidency, his administration "will work hard to try to bring these parties together".
Ceasefire negotiations
Washington is negotiating with Russia and Ukraine to end the war, but a true ceasefire is still in sight. Kyiv has already agreed to halt hostilities in the Black Sea and not attack Russian energy facilities during a 30-day ceasefire. Moscow, in return, has only promised not to attack energy facilities and said it would implement agreements on the Black Sea only after Western sanctions are lifted.
Previously, Donald Trump threatened to impose large-scale sanctions against Russia, including banking sanctions and new tariffs, unless there is a ceasefire and a peace agreement with Ukraine.
Marco Rubio said after meeting with allies in Paris on April 18 that the United States could end its mediation efforts in Ukraine within days if it does not see clear signs of a peace deal. Trump confirmed his words the same day.
On the evening of April 27, Trump made it clear for the third time in a week that he was dissatisfied with Russiaʼs position. And Rubio had reiterated the day before that Washington might abandon attempts at a peaceful settlement if Moscow and Kyiv did not make progress. In that case, Russia could face increased sanctions, the US National Security Advisor Mike Waltz reminded us over the weekend.
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