Speaking during the meeting of leaders in Washington, JD Vance said that the administration of Donald Trump considers Russian demands extended during negotiations on the end of the war in Ukraine as too high. “I wouldn't say that the Russians are not interested in finding a solution.” But at the moment they demand a specific set of concessions and we think they demand too much ” – quotes Vance The Hill.
According to Vance, the White House positively assesses Ukraine's readiness to a 30-day suspension of weapons, but this initiative did not find support on the Russian side. As the vice president noted, because of this, the discussion about the temporary break in negotiations lost its relevance. He emphasized that the Trump administration still counts on progress in a peaceful process, but otherwise the United States can withdraw from mediation.
“We would like the Russians and Ukrainians agree on some basic rules to sit at the negotiating table,” Vance explained. According to him, the United States is ready to support this process, but the key step remains to make contact between Kiev and Moscow. – We think this is another important stage to be strived – he added. At the same time, the politician pointed out that at the moment he is not pessimistic in assessing the prospects of negotiations.
During the election campaign, Donald Trump repeatedly promised that he would end the war in Ukraine within 24 hours after returning to the White House. However, after the inauguration of his rhetoric changed. He expressed hope to achieve a full truce until the end of April – as part of the first 100 days of his new term. However, these expectations did not come true either. In the absence of a breakthrough in peace initiatives, the White House has repeatedly announced that if the efforts did not bring specific results, the US would withdraw from the negotiating process.
According to the Bloomberg agency, citing sources familiar with the course of negotiations, the dialogue between Moscow and Washington was in an impasse. According to interlocutors of the Kremlin agency, he took a hard position, rejecting all compromises. The Russian side insists on the official recognition of control over four regions of Ukraine – Donetsk, Lugansk, Cherry and Zaporoski Districts – within their administrative borders. Meanwhile, none of these territories is completely under Russia's control. In addition, Moscow demands a radical limitation of the Ukrainian armed forces.
