US Vice President Vance: Russia has made significant concessions to Ukraine peace deal

JD Vance, the U.S. vice president, said that Russia had made "significant concessions", towards a negotiated resolution in its war against Ukraine. He was confident that progress was being made even though there were no clear advancements towards the end of the conflict.

Vance, speaking on NBC’s “Meet the Press With Kristen Welker”, said that Russian President Vladimir Putin had made several concessions. He also stated that Ukraine would receive security guarantees to protect it against future Russian aggression.

Vance made comments on Sunday that said, "I believe the Russians have made substantial concessions to President Trump. This is the first time they've done so in the three-and-a-half years of this conflict."

"They have realized that they won't be able install a puppet government in Kyiv. This was, of course a major request at the start. They've also acknowledged the fact that Ukraine will have some kind of security guarantee.

Russian Foreign Minister

Sergei Lavrov

In an interview aired on Sunday, he said that a group including members of the United Nations Security Council should be the guarantee of Ukraine's safety.

Donald Trump reiterated his threat on Friday to impose sanctions against Russia if no progress was made in Ukraine toward a peaceful resolution in the next two weeks. This comes a week after he met with Putin in Alaska.

Vance said that sanctions would be assessed on a case by case basis. He acknowledged that it was unlikely new penalties would prompt Russia to agree to an agreement with Ukraine.

Vance cited Trump's announcement of an additional 25% on Indian goods this month as a punishment to New Delhi for its purchases of Russian crude oil as the type of economic leverage which would be used to pursue peace.

Vance stated that "he's tried making it clear that Russia could be invited back into the world's economy if the killing stops, but they will continue to be isolate if the killing doesn't stop." (Reporting and editing by Ross Colvin, Alistair Bell, and Nathan Layne, Wilton, Connecticut)

(source: Reuters)