U.S. Vice President JD Vance has stated that Russia has made “significant concessions” in talks regarding a potential settlement to its war in Ukraine, though he also cautioned that there are no clear signs the conflict is nearing an end.
Speaking on NBC’s Meet the Press, Vance said that Russian President Vladimir Putin has shifted his stance, notably by acknowledging that Ukraine will require security guarantees to protect against future Russian aggression.
“I think the Russians have made significant concessions to President Trump for the first time in three and a half years of this conflict,” Vance said. According to him, Moscow has abandoned its initial demand to install a pro-Russian government in Kyiv and has importantly recognized that Ukraine’s territorial integrity will need to be safeguarded.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, launched in February 2022, started the deadliest conflict in Europe since the Second World War, killing tens of thousands of people. At the outset, Putin demanded recognition of Russian control over annexed territories, along with a broader influence over Ukraine’s future political orientation.
Sources told Reuters last week that in exchange for ending Russia’s attacks, Putin is demanding that Ukraine give up the entire eastern Donbas region, renounce its ambitions to join NATO, remain neutral, and keep Western troops out of the country.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in an interview broadcast on Sunday that a group of nations, including UN Security Council members, should act as 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 within two weeks, showing frustration with Moscow a week after his meeting with Putin in Alaska.
Vance said that new sanctions would be considered on a case-by-case basis, acknowledging that they were unlikely to prompt Russia to agree to a ceasefire. He pointed to Trump’s announcement this month of an additional 25% tariff on Indian goods—a measure taken as a punishment for New Delhi’s purchases of Russian oil—as an example of the kind of economic leverage that would be used in the 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.
