US Vice President J. D. Vance said Russia has made “significant concessions” to the negotiated settlement in the war with Ukraine and that he is confident that progress is being made despite the lack of clear progress towards ending the conflict.
Speaking on NBC’s “Meet the Press with Kristen Welker,” Vance said Russian President Vladimir Putin has made several concessions, including that Ukraine will receive security guarantees that will protect it from future Russian aggression.
“I think this is the first time in three and a half years of this conflict that the Russians have made significant concessions to President Trump,” Vance said.
“They realized that they would not be able to install a puppet regime in Kiev. That was, of course, the main demand at the beginning. And importantly, they acknowledged that there would be some security guarantees for the territorial integrity of Ukraine,” he added.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in an interview broadcast on Sunday that a group of countries, including members of the United Nations Security Council, should be the guarantor of Ukraine’s security.
On Friday, President Donald Trump renewed his threat of sanctions against Russia if there is no progress within two weeks on a peaceful resolution to Ukraine, showing his frustration with Moscow a week after meeting with Putin in Alaska.
Vance said the sanctions would be considered on a case-by-case basis, acknowledging that the new penalties were unlikely to encourage Russia to agree to a ceasefire with Ukraine.
Vance highlighted Trump’s announcement this month of an additional 25 percent tariff on Indian goods as punishment for New Delhi’s purchases of Russian oil as a form of economic leverage to use in an effort to achieve peace.
“He tried to make it clear that Russia can be invited back into the world economy if it stops the killing, but that it will continue to be isolated if it does not stop the killing,” Vance said, according to Reuters.
