The vice president made the comments as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he felt the talks were nearing a ’real result.’
Vice President JD Vance said that he “wouldn’t say with confidence” that the United States would resolve the war between Russia and Ukraine, in comments published on Dec. 22.
While speaking to UnHerd, Vance stated that Washington, nevertheless, would “keep on trying to negotiate.”
“I think that we’ve made progress, but sitting here today, I wouldn’t say with confidence that we’re going to get to a peaceful resolution,” the vice president told the publication.
“I think there’s a good chance we will, I think there’s a good chance we won’t.”
The vice president’s remarks come as the United States continues to hold talks separately with representatives from Russia and Ukraine.
Explaining further, Vance said that during the recent talks, Washington had gained a “real sense of what’s non-negotiable [and] what’s very negotiable.”
“I think the Russians really want territorial control of the Donetsk. The Ukrainians understandably see that as a major security problem, [even as] they privately acknowledge that eventually, they’ll probably lose Donetsk—but, you know, eventually. It could be 12 months from now, it could be longer than that,” he said.
He called that issue a “significant hold-up” in the talks, describing it as a “terrible territorial concession.”
Vance also raised other topics that were dragging out the negotiations, such as control of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, what would happen to ethnic Russians in Ukraine and ethnic Ukrainians in Russia-controlled area, and postwar reconstruction.
The vice president’s remarks come as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Dec. 22 that negotiations with the United States and Europe are “very close to a real result” in ending the war with Russia.
Officials from both Ukraine and Russia said their teams were returning home on Monday to report on discussions they held separately with U.S. negotiators in Miami, Florida.
“It all looks quite worthy. … And here it is important that this is the work of both us [Ukraine] and the United States of America. This suggests that we are very close to a real result,” Zelenskyy told a gathering of Ukrainian diplomats.
He added that the negotiators had been working on a 20-point plan, put forward by Washington, which has been under discussion for weeks after an initial 28-point draft was pilloried by Ukraine and its European allies for being too favorable to Russia.
“Not everything is ideal with this, but the plan is there,” Zelenskyy said.
By Guy Birchall
