Vice President JD Vance Wednesday laid down a new stance on Ukraine peace talks that closely mirrors key Russian positions as Secretary of State Marco Rubio skipped a key meeting with Ukraine and European allies.
Vance piled pressure on Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy by calling on both sides to accept the American framework for peace, which includes agreeing to recognize Russia’s annexation of Crimea, mostly freezing the frontlines of the conflict and foregoing future NATO membership.
“It’s time for them to either say yes or for the United States to walk away from this process,” Vance said. “The only way to really stop the killing is for the armies to both put down their weapons, to freeze this thing and to get on with the business of actually building a better Russia and a better Ukraine.”
Vance sought to portray the guidelines as requiring concessions from both sides, but the plan mostly adopts longtime Kremlin talking points.
Trump himself lashed out at Zelenskyy for publicly saying he wouldn’t accept major concessions like recognizing Russian control of Crimea.
“It’s inflammatory statements like Zelenskyy’s that makes it so difficult to settle this war,” he wrote on his social media site. “He has nothing to boast about!”
Both Vance and Rubio have said the U.S. would soon “walk away” from the talks if no breakthrough is forthcoming.
The Trump administration’s ultimatums seem mostly aimed at Ukraine, even though Russian strongman Vladimir Putin has made no major concessions so far and snubbed Trump’s demands for a ceasefire to allow peace talks to gain traction.
Vance spoke in India hours after Zelenskyy repeated Ukraine’s longstanding refusal to recognize Russian sovereignty over Crimea or other occupied lands seized during the three-year Russian invasion.
“This is our territory, the territory of the people of Ukraine,” Zelenskyy said in remarks that apparently irked Trump.
The Ukrainian rejection of the Crimea proposal apparently led Rubio to snub a diplomatic meeting with Ukraine, Britain, France and Germany that had been planned for Wednesday in London.
Zelenskyy reportedly hopes to talk to President Trump this weekend as they both are expected to attend the funeral of the late Pope Francis.
The Ukrainian leader suffered a major blow when he got embroiled in a shouting match with Trump and Vance at a White House meeting in February.
Trump briefly cut off aid and intelligence sharing with Ukraine, but resumed after Zelenskyy agreed to an immediate cease fire, a call Putin has rebuffed.
