Vice President JD Vance said Russia is “asking for too much” in negotiations to end the war in Ukraine.
“Certainly, the first peace offer that the Russians put on the table, our reaction to it was, ‘You’re asking for too much,’” Vance said at a Munich Security Conference meeting in Washington, D.C. “But this is how negotiations unfold.”
The vice president emphasized he is “not yet a pessimist” on the negotiations and that he thinks Russia is interested in finding a peace deal.
However, the two sides appear to be a long way from reaching a ceasefire deal.
Vance indicated that Ukraine and Russia are not meeting directly with each other and that they will need to do so to reach peace.
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“They hate each other so much that if you have an hourlong conversation with either side, the first 30 minutes is just them complaining about some historical grievance from four years ago, or five years ago, or 10 years ago,” Vance said.
President Donald Trump’s attempt to end the war in Ukraine have attracted scores of attention and controversy, and Vance has at times been front and center as well.
The pair infamously sparred with Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office on Feb. 28, with Vance accusing Zelensky of being “disrespectful” and not saying thank you for the billions of dollars the U.S. had provided his country.
Both Trump and Vance have been accused of being far too friendly with Russia, which invaded Ukraine in February of 2022, while piling pressure on the weaker invaded nation.
The man who led the charge to aid Ukraine, former President Joe Biden, said Tuesday that Trump’s approach was “beneath America” and a form of “modern-day appeasement,” warning that “Europe is going to lose confidence in the certainty of America and the leadership of America.”
Biden dumps on Trump’s approach to Ukraine in war against Russia: ‘Beneath America’
Even some Republicans, such as Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), have pushed back against Trump’s tactics. Grassley wrote on X that Putin is “is playing America as a patsy” and demanded the “toughest of sanctions” be used against Russia.
IVE SEEN ENOUGH KILLING OF INNOCENT UKRAINIAN women + children. President Trump pls put the toughest of sanctions on Putin. U ought to c from clear evidence that he is playing America as a patsy
— Chuck Grassley (@ChuckGrassley) April 25, 2025
The Trump administration has suggested Ukraine will need to cede land to Russia, something that Zelensky and Trump’s critics say is far too lenient to Putin and will reward him for the invasion.
Vance did not address that accusation directly, but did stress his desire to see the conflict end one way or another.
“Our strong view is that the continuation of this conflict is bad for us, it’s bad for Europe, it’s bad for Russia, and it’s bad for Ukraine,” he said. “We think that if cool heads prevail here, we can bring this thing to a durable peace that will be economically beneficial for both Ukrainian and Russians.”
Trump, he said, has a “genuine humanitarian impulse” about ending the war, which the president claims is killing 5,000 people a week.
“We’re trying to, as much as we can, play a constructive role in advancing the peace conversation forward,” Vance said.
However, Vance also repeated his assertion that Trump is prepared to walk away from the negotiating table if he thinks progress isn’t being made. Vance predicted that American officials will give updates on the negotiation process once every four or five weeks.
The next big step he wants to see is getting the Russians and Ukrainians to agree to basic guidelines for sitting down and talking to one another.
Ukraine has agreed to a temporary, 30-day ceasefire, which Russia did not support, but Vance wants to see more ambitious goals being discussed.
“We’ve tried to move beyond the obsession with the 30 day ceasefire,” Vance said.
Meanwhile, U.S. Special Envoy to Ukraine and Russia Keith Kellogg said earlier Wednesday morning that Russian President Vladimir Putin is an impediment to reaching a ceasefire.
“I think we’re close,” Kellogg said. “The one man who can deliver it is President Trump — as long as Putin agrees. Right now, probably, our impediment in progress is the president of Russia not agreeing to it.”
