Vice President JD Vance said in an interview on Thursday that the Russia-Ukraine conflict continues without resolution because neither government has been willing to commit to a peace deal despite ongoing talks.
“As much as energetic diplomacy from the president of the United States can get people to the one-yard line, eventually you have to have the two parties who are willing to cut a deal,” Vance told Newsmax’s Greta Van Susteren on her program The Record With Greta Van Susteren.
“And right now, for all of our work, and we’re going to keep on working at it, the Russians and the Ukrainians are just not at the point where they can make a deal,” he said.
Still, Vance expressed optimism that an agreement could eventually be reached, noting that it would take considerably more effort. “I think there’s a fundamental misalignment of expectations, where the Russians tend to think that they’re doing better on the battlefield than they actually are,” he explained.
That misconception, he said, has complicated negotiations in recent months even though some movement toward dialogue has occurred.
Vance credited President Donald Trump’s diplomatic style with advancing talks further than previous U.S. efforts. “You know, I think that the thing that actually works in both cases is the Trump approach to diplomacy, which is energetic, that empowers his people on the ground, that actually encourages them to get a deal done and is willing to explore some unconventional means in order to get the deal done,” he said.
He added that the progress seen so far likely wouldn’t have happened without Trump’s direct involvement. “It turned out, as the president said, I think it surprised all of us, including the president, that this is a particularly tough nut to crack,” Vance said.
Discussing the administration’s economic strategy, Vance said tariffs have proven far more productive than traditional sanctions in pressuring Moscow. “You have to separate sanctions from tariffs,” he stated.
“Tariffs have been quite effective as a negotiating tool with the Russians,” he continued. “But sanctions have been tried for decades in this particular region of the world and all over the world, and I don’t think they actually work particularly well.”
Vance cautioned that sanctions often end up inflicting harm on the U.S. economy while failing to change Russia’s conduct. “The president has been very deliberate,” he said. “He hasn’t, you know, he doesn’t just apply blanket sanctions.”
He also noted that Trump has been engaging directly with major global economies to limit Moscow’s energy profits. “With the Russian case in particular, of course, a main driver of their economy is the oil that they sell to India and China,” he said.
“So he’s been working with both India and China to try to cut down on those oil sales, and again, in order to apply some pressure to the parties in the region to get peace,” said Vance, adding that Trump will “keep on aggressively working on it.”
Vance acknowledged that the drawn-out process has tested the administration’s patience. “Yes, it’s frustrating sometimes,” he admitted. “Yes, [Trump] gets impatient with everybody involved sometimes.”
Nevertheless, Vance said the president remains confident that persistence will ultimately pay off. “So long as he keeps working on it, I think the president has great confidence he can strike a deal,” Vance said. “I think that he will. It’s just a question of how long it’s going to take.”
{Matzav.com}
