US Vice President JD Vance said Russia has made “significant concessions” in talks to end its war with Ukraine. He, however, didn’t rule out imposing more sanctions to pressure the Kremlin toward peace.
Speaking on NBC’s “Meet the Press with Kristen Welker”, Vance said the Russians have been “flexible” on some of its demands. “I think the Russians have made significant concessions to President Trump for the first time in three and a half years of this conflict,” he said in comments aired on Sunday.
The US Vice President said Russian President Vladimir Putin made several concessions, including that Ukraine will receive security guarantees protecting against future Russian aggression.
“They’ve recognised that they’re not going to be able to install a puppet regime in Kyiv. That was, of course, a major demand at the beginning. And importantly, they’ve acknowledged that there is going to be some security guarantee to the territorial integrity of Ukraine,” Vance said.
Russia had started invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Putin’s three demands
In return for ending Russia’s attacks, Putin is demanding that Ukraine give up all of the eastern Donbas region, renounce ambitions to join NATO, remain neutral and keep Western troops out of the country, sources told Reuters last week.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in an interview broadcast on Sunday that a group of nations including United Nations Security Council members should be the guarantors of Ukraine’s security.
On Friday, President Donald Trump renewed a threat to impose sanctions on Russia if there was no progress toward a peaceful settlement in Ukraine in two weeks, showing frustration at Moscow a week after his meeting with Putin in Alaska.
Vance said sanctions would be considered on a case-by-case basis, acknowledging that new penalties were unlikely to prompt Russia to agree to a ceasefire with Ukraine.
Vance pointed to Trump’s announcement this month of an additional 25% tariff on Indian goods as a punishment for New Delhi’s purchases of Russian oil as the kind of economic leverage that would be used in pursuit of peace.
“He’s tried to make it clear that Russia can be re-invited into the world economy if they stop the killing, but they’re going to continue to be isolated if they don’t stop the killing,” Vance said.