Vice President JD Vance has issued an ultimatum to Ukraine and Russia over America’s peace proposal to end the war.
“It’s time for them to either say yes or for the United States to walk away from this process,” he told reporters during his visit to India, shortly before boarding Air Force Two on Wednesday.
Why It Matters
Reports over the weekend indicated that the U.S. had put forward a peace proposal that involved recognizing Russian control over Crimea, which would deliver a major win for Russian President Vladimir Putin while instituting a ceasefire along the current front lines. But Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that Kyiv would not cede Crimea to Russia.
On Tuesday, the State Department confirmed that Secretary of State Marco Rubio would not be attending crunch talks on a ceasefire in London on Wednesday after Zelensky’s comments. Rubio had said last week that the U.S. was willing to walk away from its efforts to broker a peace deal if one couldn’t be achieved soon.
U.S. Vice President JD Vance delivers remarks at the Rajasthan International Centre in Jaipur, India, on April 22.
U.S. Vice President JD Vance delivers remarks at the Rajasthan International Centre in Jaipur, India, on April 22.
AP/Kenny Holston
What To Know
Vance said on Wednesday, in comments shared by the White House, that the United States had made a “very explicit proposal to both the Russians and the Ukrainians.”
That proposal includes drawing new territorial lines “at some level close to where they are today.”
“Now, of course, that means the Ukrainians and the Russians are both going to have to give up some of the territory they currently own,” Vance said. “There’s going to have to be some territorial swaps. So, I wouldn’t say the exact lines. But we want the killing to stop, and the only way to really stop the killing is for the armies to both put down their weapons, to freeze this thing, and to get on with the business of actually building a better Russia and a better Ukraine.”
The vice president warned that if Russia and Ukraine rejected America’s “very fair proposal,” then it would be time for the U.S. to exit the negotiations.
“We have engaged in an extraordinary amount of diplomacy, of on-the-ground work. We’ve really tried to understand things from the perspective of both the Ukrainians and the Russians. What do Ukrainians care the most about? What do the Russians care the most about?” Vance said. “We’re going to see if the Europeans, the Russians, and the Ukrainians are ultimately able to get this thing over the finish line,” he added.
Vance said that he felt “optimistic” that a deal could be achieved soon. President Donald Trump has said he hopes to have both sides sign a ceasefire by the end of the week.
Putin reportedly told U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff during their meeting in St. Petersburg earlier this month that he was willing to stop the war at the current front line, meaning Moscow would relinquish its claims over four partly occupied Ukrainian areas. In exchange, Trump administration officials suggested the United States would recognize Russian ownership of Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula.
Other U.S. proposals reportedly included deploying a European peacekeeping force to Ukraine, and a military force to the front lines to monitor the ceasefire.
What People Are Saying
Vance told reporters during his visit to India on Wednesday, “I think everybody has been negotiating in good faith, but it’s now time, I think, to take, if not the final step, one of the final steps, which is, at a broad level, the parties saying, “We’re going to stop the killing, we’re going to freeze the territorial lines at some level close to where they are today, and we’re going to actually put in place the kind of long-term diplomatic settlement that hopefully will lead to long-term peace.”
Rubio said in Paris on April 18 that the U.S. is prepared to do “whatever we can to facilitate” peace, but “if it’s not possible—if we’re so far apart that this is not going to happen—then I think the president’s probably at a point where he’s going to say, ‘Well, we’re done.'”
Zelensky told reporters on Tuesday: “Ukraine will not recognize the occupation of Crimea. It’s our territory, the territory of the people of Ukraine, there is nothing to discuss here.”
Trump said Sunday on Truth Social that he hopes Russia and Ukraine will agree to a ceasefire deal by the end of the week: “BOTH WILL THEN START TO DO BIG BUSINESS WITH THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, WHICH IS THRIVING, AND MAKE A FORTUNE!”
What Happens Next
Witkoff is expected to visit Moscow later this week, according to Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov.