US Vice President JD Vance stated that the war in Ukraine “is not going to end anytime soon,” just hours after the US and Ukraine signed a significant minerals agreement that aims to foster peace.
Speaking to Fox News on Thursday, Vance cast doubt on earlier statements from the White House, suggesting that US President Donald Trump had achieved “a really big breakthrough” in peace efforts. “It’s going to be up to them (Ukraine and Russia) to come to an agreement and end this brutal conflict. It’s not going anywhere,” Vance said. “Of course, the Ukrainians are angry after being invaded, but are we going to keep losing thousands of soldiers over a few miles of territory? I hope both sides come to their senses.”
Trump had suggested the previous week that Russia and Ukraine were “very close to a deal” after his envoy, Steve Witkoff, met with Putin at the Kremlin for three hours. However, peace talks have stalled despite multiple high-level meetings and direct phone calls between Trump and Putin. Moscow rejected a 30-day ceasefire agreement proposed by the US, which Ukraine had accepted.
The Kremlin is demanding recognition of the Ukrainian territories it has seized, a move that would violate international law.
Meanwhile, Russia continues its relentless attacks on Ukraine, bombing cities far from the frontlines almost daily.
Vance noted that the fact that talks were still happening was an achievement in itself. “I really don’t believe that anyone, out of the 8 billion people in the world, could have gotten this deal done other than Donald J. Trump,” he told Fox News.
Earlier this week, Putin declared a unilateral three-day ceasefire in Ukraine from May 8 to May 11. In response, both the Trump administration and Ukrainian President Zelensky reiterated calls for a permanent truce.
The Trump administration has been alternating between blaming Moscow and Kyiv for the lack of progress.
Last week, Trump criticized Zelensky for refusing to recognize Russian control of Crimea, which Moscow illegally annexed in 2014. Trump called Zelensky’s comments “very harmful to the peace negotiations,” adding that such inflammatory statements made it harder to resolve the war. “The situation for Ukraine is dire — he can have peace, or he can fight for another three years before losing the whole country,” Trump posted on Truth Social.
Yet, after speaking privately with Zelensky at Pope Francis’ funeral on Saturday, Trump expressed doubts, asking if Putin “maybe doesn’t want to stop the war.” The Trump administration has repeatedly threatened to walk away from negotiations, most recently on Thursday, when Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated that Trump may reconsider efforts to broker peace if there is no breakthrough soon.
