JD Vance: Russia is asking for too much from Ukraine

Yahoo

07-05-2025

Russia is asking for 'too much' in peace with Ukraine, JD Vance has said.
The vice-president suggested that Vladimir Putin is pushing for too many concessions as discussions between the two nations have stalled in recent weeks, with the US threatening to take a step back unless progress is made.
'I wouldn't say that the Russians are uninterested in bringing this thing to a resolution,' Mr Vance told the Munich Leaders Meeting in Washington on Wednesday.
'What I would say is, right now ... we think they're asking for too much.'
Russia-Ukraine peace talks are strained
Donald Trump has softened his stance towards Kyiv in recent days amid his growing frustrations that the Russian president is dragging his feet over attempts to secure a ceasefire.
The Kremlin has expressed a willingness for talks with Kyiv, but last month rejected a US peace proposal because it did not grant international recognition to territory seized by Moscow's troops.
Ukraine has repeatedly rejected any formal recognition of Russia's annexation of its territory, saying that Putin should not be rewarded for his aggression.
The stalemate reached boiling point last week when the US warned it would no longer mediate peace negotiations.
'You don't have to agree with the Russian justification for the war, and certainly, both the president and I have criticised the full-scale invasion, but you have to try to understand where the other side is coming from to end the conflict,' Mr Vance added.
'And I think that's what president Trump has been very deliberate about, is actually forcing the Russians to say, here is what we would like in order to end the conflict.'
Last week, the US signed a long-contested rare earth minerals deal with Ukraine, which will give American companies preferential treatment in extracting Ukraine's vast natural resources.
Scott Bessent and Yulia Svyrydenko, the Ukrainian vice-prime minister, sign the minerals deal - U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY/via REUTERS
Soon after the deal was signed, the US president approved a fresh delivery of weapons to Ukraine, the first of its kind since Mr Trump took office.
'Chinese must consume more'
Elsewhere, Scott Bessent, the Treasury secretary, will meet with Chinese officials this weekend in Geneva for the first round of trade talks.
The talks will be the first official meeting between Washington and Beijing since Mr Trump took office in January.
'We cannot absorb hundreds of billions of dollars, close to a trillion dollars per year and annual surplus, most of it coming from the People's Republic of China,' Mr Vance said.
'We think that the PRC is going to have to, frankly, let their own population consume a little bit more. They've held consumption levels down in order to increase these massive exports,' he added.
Mr Vance said part of rebalancing America's trade relationship would include cutting more trade deals with 'some of our friends in Europe but also with some of our more adversarial nations,' and that this would all be done while maintaining 'at least an open dialogue with the (People's Republic of China)'.
No country has been hit harder by Mr Trump's trade war than China, the world's biggest exporter and second largest economy.
When Mr Trump announced his 'liberation day' tariffs on April 2, China retaliated with tariffs of its own, a move that the US president viewed as demonstrating a lack of respect.
The tit-for-tat tariffs have been mounting since then, with the US levies against China now at 145 per cent and China tariffs on the US at 125 per cent.
American firms have already begun cancelling orders from China, postponing expansion plans and hunkering down as a result of the tariff war.
Iran peace talks
Ahead of another round of talks this weekend, the vice-president said discussions with Iran to strike a nuclear deal were 'on the right pathway'.
The talks seek to limit Iran's nuclear programme in exchange for the lifting of some of the crushing economic sanctions the US has imposed on the Islamic Republic.
'If Iran gets a nuclear weapon, which country then next gets a nuclear weapon, and then when that country gets a nuclear weapon, which country after that? We really care not just about Iran, but about nuclear proliferation,' he added.
'We really think that if the Iran domino falls, you're going to see nuclear proliferation all over the Middle East.'
Mr Trump has repeatedly threatened to unleash airstrikes targeting Iran's programme if a deal is not reached.
Iranian officials increasingly warn that they could pursue a nuclear weapon with their stockpile of uranium enriched to near weapons-grade levels.
America's relationship with the EU
Meanwhile, Mr Vance appeared to soften his tone towards Europe, which he previously lambasted for curtailing free speech during a firebrand speech at the Munich conference in February.
Mr Vance insisted that the United States and Europe are 'on the same team', adding: 'I think it's completely ridiculous to think that you're ever going to be able to drive a firm wedge between the United States and Europe.
'You brought up the speech earlier, it doesn't mean that Europeans won't criticise the United States and the United States won't criticise Europe, but I do think fundamentally we have to be and we are on the same civilisational team.'
However, Mr Vance did express some frustration with Europe over its deindustrialisation.
'When I looked at Germany 10, 15, 20 years ago, one of the things that the Germans were very good about is that they had kept the industrial strength of their economy consistent with the first world standard of living,' he said.
'But now what we see in Europe is a lot of our European friends are de-industrialising at the very moment where we're all seeing the economic underpinning, of real hard power.'
To be a strong country 'requires very strong and powerful industry,' Mr Vance said.
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