With President Donald Trump set to speak on Monday with Russian and Ukrainian leaders, Vice President JD Vance acknowledged that the two sides appeared to be at “a bit of impasse” and that the president’s patience with efforts to help negotiate an end to the three-year war may be wearing thin.
“We’re more than open to walking away,” Vance told reporters aboard Air Force Two as he returned from Pope Leo XIV’s inaugural Mass in Rome. “The United States is not going to spin its wheels here. We want to see outcomes.”
Questioning Russia’s Intent
Vance also previewed Trump’s message for Russian President Vladimir Putin, questioning the Russian leader’s intent to end the war.
“I think the president’s going to say to President Putin, ‘Look, are you serious? Are you real about this?’ Because the proposal from the United States has always been: Look, there are a lot of economic benefits to thawing relations between Russia and the rest of the world, but you’re not going to get those benefits if you keep on killing a lot of innocent people,” Vance said. “If you’re willing to stop the killing, the United States is willing to be a partner for peace.”
Stalled Negotiations
Last week’s face-to-face talks between Russian and Ukrainian officials in Istanbul made little progress. Putin refused to travel to Turkey to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who traveled to Ankara for a separate meeting with Turkey’s president and had expressed a willingness to sit down with Putin for the first time since the war began.
Trump, after meeting privately with Zelenskyy on the sidelines of Pope Francis’ funeral, acknowledged publicly that Putin could be “tapping” him along. And the U.S. moved quickly to firm up and sign an economic agreement with Ukraine on a joint investment fund that the White House has suggested will give the U.S. a long-term stake in the country’s post-war future and thus something of a bulwark against future Russian aggression.
Shifting Responsibilities
And other administration officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, have already asserted that, with Ukraine accepting the terms of a 30-day ceasefire proposal from the White House, the onus was shifting to Russia to show that it, too, was serious about peace.
But after weeks of such comments, Trump has yet to truly ratchet up the pressure on Moscow, discussing the possibility of additional economic sanctions but opting against imposing them thus far. Last week while traveling in the Middle East, Trump brushed off Putin’s refusal to meet Zelenskyy in Istanbul and seemed to validate his excuse: that the Russian leader only wanted to meet with him.
Trump planned to speak with Putin first, then with Zelenskyy on Monday, press secretary Karoline Leavitt said.
