“Certainly, the first peace offer that the Russians laid on the table was our reaction to it: you demand too much, but that's how negotiations develop. And I wouldn't say, I'm not so pessimistic yet. I would not say that the Russians are not interested in bringing this matter to the resolution” – said Vance, talking about negotiations on the end of the Russian invasion.
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“I would say that now the Russians are demanding a certain set of requirements, a certain set of concessions to end the conflict, and we think they demand too much” – he added.
Vance also said that Russia considers the American proposal of a 30-day suspension of weapons as contrary to its strategic interest, so the US administration “tries to go beyond obsessed with a 30-day suspension of weapons and focus more on what a long-term solution will look like.”
Donald Trump hits Russia
President Trump was asked about the possibility of Russia's return to G7 (formerly G8) during a task meeting for the organization of next year's World Football Championships in the USA, Canada and Mexico. He said that Russia's exclusion from G8 after the annexation of Crimea was a mistake and if it wasn't for this “stupid decision”.
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He added, however, that currently it is not a good time to return Russia to G7 again. Referring later to talks about the end of the Russian-Ukrainian war, Trump said that the talks of his envoy Steve Witkoff and Vladimir Putin brought great progress, because “Russia wanted to take over all Ukraine and stopped.”
“I think that if we were not here, they would now fight for the takeover of the whole country, and they do not do it” – he said.
