The US does not want Ukraine to disintegrate — it wants the country to remain a sovereign state. And the Russian Federation cannot expect to receive territory it "has not even conquered yet".
The US Vice President JD Vance said this in an interview with Fox News.
According to Vance, the Russian Federation was asking for “too much, because the Russian perception of the war on the ground is that they are winning”. At the same time, he believes that in recent months “things have not been going very well for the Ukrainians” — Vance did not specify what exactly he was talking about.
“I consider it progress that they [Ukraine and Russia] put concrete peace plans on the negotiating table… We knew that they [Russia] would ask for more than they could give. That’s how negotiations often go,” the US vice president said.
He says that it can be considered a "breakthrough" that Russia has put forward a peace plan and Ukraine has put forward a concrete proposal.
Vance added that the United States could walk away from talks to end the war if Russia fails to conduct them in good faith, an option he said would not benefit either side — the United States, Russia, or Ukraine.
"We have to try to bring these parties together to achieve lasting peace. We havenʼt achieved that yet. We will continue to work on that until we decide that ultimately we canʼt make more progress," Vance concluded.
US position on Russia
The day before, Trump, when asked by a journalist about Russiaʼs concessions in the context of a peace agreement, stated that Russia would have to give up all of Ukraine.
"Russia will have to give up all of Ukraine. Because Russia wants all of Ukraine. And if I hadnʼt intervened, they would have continued to fight for all of Ukraine right now. Russia doesnʼt just need the piece it has now — it needs all of Ukraine," the US president said.
On the evening of April 27, Trump made it clear for the third time in a week that he was unhappy with Russiaʼs position. His rhetoric changed somewhat after a conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the Vatican. Axios reported that Zelensky felt for the first time that he had been able to at least partially change Trumpʼs attitude towards Putin.
The Economist believes that Trumpʼs publication criticizing Putin, which appeared after the meeting at the Vatican, indicates that he understood Zelenskyʼs message. During the conversation, Zelensky asked Trump not to walk away from negotiations to end the Russia-Ukraine war.
Also in the conversation, the Ukrainian president insisted that without pressure from the United States, Putin would not change his position. Trump in response suggested that he might reconsider his attitude towards Putin. Zelensky called for a return to the idea of an unconditional ceasefire as the basis for negotiations — Ukraine supports it, Russia had refused even earlier. Trump apparently agreed, but there is no official confirmation.
The Ukrainian president also reiterated that Kyiv does not recognize Crimea as Russian. Trump responded that he does not demand this from Zelensky. According to the plan under discussion, the United States can recognize the peninsula, but not Ukraine.
Zelensky stressed that he is ready to compromise for the sake of peace, but on the condition of clear security guarantees.
- Washington is negotiating with Russia and Ukraine to end the war, but a true ceasefire is still far from certain. Kyiv has already agreed to halt hostilities in the Black Sea and not to 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.
- 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 did not see clear signs of a peace deal. Trump confirmed his words the same day. Rubio and other US officials have since repeated this claim.
- The US Vice President J.D. Vance said he understands 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.”
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