Vance: Russia can't expect to be given territory it hasn't conquered yet

US Vice President JD Vance has called the demands put forward by Russia during the talks on ending the war in Ukraine "too much" and stated that Russia cannot expect to be given territories it has not even managed to capture.

Source: Vance in an interview with Fox News 

Quote: "We knew that Russia would ask for too much because Russia's perception of the war is that on the ground, they're winning. And of course, the Ukrainians would like to do a cease-fire in part because things have not been going so well for the Ukrainians the last few months. And our attitude is: we don't want Ukraine to collapse. We obviously want Ukraine to remain a sovereign country, but Russia can't expect to be given territory that they haven't even conquered yet. And that is one of the things that they have put down in that initial peace plan."

Details: Vance also described as progress the fact that Russia and Ukraine are taking part in talks and offering "concrete peace plans". Meanwhile, he stated that the US will withdraw from the talks if it becomes clear that "the Russians are not engaging in negotiations in good faith". 

"And if that happens, we're going to walk away. The president's going to say, 'We are out of this thing'," he said.

"What that is going to mean, fundamentally, I think, is that both Russia and Ukraine are going to be left to settle this thing without the advice and without the mediation of the United States. I don’t think that’s good for anybody, I don't think it's good for us, I don't think for Russia or Ukraine," Vance stressed.

He added that, in his opinion, there are "some diplomatic breakthroughs" in the settlement of the Russo-Ukrainian war.

Quote: "But we've got to try to get these sides a little bit closer together to achieve a lasting peace. We are not there yet. We'll keep working on it until we decide that we ultimately can’t make any more progress."

Background: 

• Earlier, Vance said he was "still optimistic" about the possibility of ending the war between Russia and Ukraine, noting that Washington is now waiting for Kyiv and Moscow to agree to engage directly with each other.
• He stated that Russia's war against Ukraine would not end anytime soon. However, he expressed optimism about the prospects for negotiations between Russia and Ukraine.
• Meanwhile, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent agreed that Russian leader Vladimir Putin is a war criminal, but stressed that it is still necessary to talk to him.

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