Vice President JD Vance announced Wednesday that the United States plans to leave the negotiating table unless both Ukraine and Russia agree to a peace deal.
"We've issued a very specific proposal to both the Russians and the Ukrainians and it's time for them to say yes, or for the United States to walk away from this process," Vance told reporters. "We have engaged in an extraordinary amount of diplomacy — of on the ground work."
The vice president's comments follow Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s absence from talks in London involving officials from the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Ukraine, and the U.S.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING | Amid doubts, Rubio signals US might abandon Ukraine-Russia peace talks
At the White House, efforts to apply public pressure for a deal continue. President Donald Trump recently criticized Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for making "inflammatory statements" that he believes could hinder negotiations.
Trump expressed his frustration on his Truth Social platform, stating, "the statement made by Zelenskyy today will do nothing but prolong the 'killing field,' and nobody wants that! We are very close to a deal, but the man with 'no cards to play' should now, finally, GET IT DONE."
"I think we have a deal with Russia," the president said on Wednesday. "We have to get a deal with Zelenskyy, and I hope that Zelenskyy, I thought it might be easier to deal with Zelenskyy. So far, it's been harder. But that's okay. It's all right, but, but I think we have a deal with both."
Zelenskyy has maintained that Ukraine will not legally recognize Crimea as Russian territory, a longstanding position. Trump countered that this recognition is not a requirement, with White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt adding pressure on Zelenskyy.
"In order to make a good deal, both sides have to walk away a little bit unhappy," Leavitt said. "And unfortunately, President Zelenskyy has been trying to litigate this peace negotiation in the press. And that's unacceptable to the president."
RELATED STORY | Trump says Zelenskyy is prolonging war in Ukraine by resisting calls to cede Crimea to Russia
The White House has threatened to move on if it believes an agreement is unattainable after presenting a peace plan. Although no specific timeline was given, Vance remarked that the proposal aims to "freeze territorial lines" close to the current borders, meaning both sides will need to yield some territory.
"What I said is the current lines — somewhere close to them — is where you're ultimately, I think, gonna draw the new lines in the conflict,” Vance explained. “It's going to have to be some territorial swaps. So I wouldn't say the exact lines, but we want the killing to stop."
Regional experts Scripps News has spoken with believe the Trump administration appears to be prioritizing a deal with Russia in their view. Notably, President Trump has not commented on Russia's continued attacks on Ukraine.
"The Trump administration has offered settlement terms that blatantly favor Russia. Trump could have done better if he had applied pressure on Moscow. But he never used sticks with the Russians, only offering them carrots. He gave Putin no real incentive to compromise. Ukraine will likely balk at these terms," said Steve Pifer, an affiliate of the Stanford Center for International Security and Cooperation and the former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine. "All this raises the question of whether Trump ever intended to make a serious bid to mediate an end to the war."
The White House's pressure on Zelenskyy to recognize Crimea as Russian "might be the single most shameful thing the U.S. has done internationally certainly in my lifetime," said Dalibor Rohac, who studies European political trends as a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. "To me it signals prioritizing getting a deal with the Russians and then shoving it down the throat of reluctant Ukrainians."
DEEP DIVE | Broken promises and nuclear shadows: Ukraine's struggle for security
While Special Envoy Steve Witkoff is expected to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin later this week, the U.S. did not take part in those talks in London with European counterparts as well as Ukrainians — which are a continuation of talks held in Paris last week that did include Witkoff and Rubio.
However, Special Envoy to Ukraine Gen. Keith Kellogg did meet with the Ukrainians Wednesday. Ukraine's foreign minister called the meeting a "constructive exchange of views on the path to peace."
A Ukrainian readout from the meeting says officials reiterated that Ukraine would "defend its principled positions during the negotiations," agreeing to continue the talks.
A source familiar with Ukrainian perspectives, meanwhile, tells Scripps News that Ukraine feels it has complied with all U.S. requests during these discussions.
This story was initially reported by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
