The United States will “walk away” from talks if Russia and Ukraine reject an “explicit proposal” by U.S. officials to end the three-year war, said Vice President JD Vance on Wednesday, referring to ongoing negotiations between the involved parties.
“We’ve issued a very explicit proposal to both the Russians and the Ukrainians, and it’s time for them to either say yes, or for the United States to walk away from this process,” Vance told reporters after visiting the Taj Mahal in India, answering a question about the negotiations.
The White House has “engaged in an extraordinary amount of diplomacy, of on-the-ground work. We’ve really tried to understand things from the perspective of both the Ukrainians and the Russians. What do Ukrainians care the most about? What do the Russians care the most about? And I think that we’ve put together a very fair proposal.”
His comment comes as officials from European Union countries gathered for talks in the United Kingdom on how to move forward after the White House had made a new push to end the war.
Both President Donald Trump and Vance have said on numerous occasions that they want to totally end the conflict in a timely manner. But Trump has, at times, expressed frustrations in recent weeks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin over how the negotiations are being handled.
“It’s now time, I think, to take, if not the final step, one of the final steps, which is, at a broad level, the party saying we’re going to stop the killing, we’re going to freeze the territorial lines at some level close to where they are today,” Vance added. “Now, of course, that means the Ukrainians and the Russians are both going to have to give up some of the territory they currently own.”
A day earlier, Zelenskyy said he is ruling out ceding territory to Russia as part of any potential peace agreement, calling it a nonstarter to engage in talks. The Ukrainian leader spoke on Tuesday in response to reports that the Trump administration was proposing a deal that would allow Russia to keep occupied Ukrainian territory as part of a potential peace agreement.
But it is only “possible when Russia does this [cease-fire] and stops the killings. On Easter, we achieved a decrease in the intensity of hostilities and the absence of air alarms.”
The cease-fire could be extended for another 30 days, he said, adding, “We are also ready for an immediate ceasefire at least for civilian objects and have already declared this.”
Russian officials responded to Vance’s remark on Wednesday by saying they do not view the vice president’s “explicit proposal” as an ultimatum.
Commenting on those attending the London talks, Peskov also said, “As far as we understand, they so far have failed to bring their positions closer on some issues.”
On Wednesday, a Russian drone struck a bus carrying workers in Marganets, in eastern Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region, killing eight women and one man, regional head Serhii Lysak wrote on his Telegram channel. More than 40 people were injured, he said.
