The United States wants “Ukrainians to have a sovereign and an independent country,” but Kyiv must return to the negotiating table, U.S. Vice President JD Vance has said.
Following last week’s public row where Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy was ejected from the White House after a deal on the U.S. helping end the war with Russia erupted into chaos, Vance said he wanted meaningful ‘private engagement’.
Speaking to reporters in the U.S. Senate on Tuesday, Vance said: “Public stuff doesn't matter nearly as much as what the Ukrainians are doing to meaningfully engage on what a peaceful settlement would look like.”
He added: “We need the Ukrainians privately to come to us and say, this is what we need. This is what we want. This is how we’re going to participate in the process to end this conflict.
“That is the most important thing. And that lack of private engagement is what is most concerning to us.”
He went on to say that “Ukrainian troops have fought very bravely” but stressed that all sides, including Ukraine, must engage in peace talks.
“We are at a point here where neither Europe nor the United States nor the Ukrainians can continue this war indefinitely.”
When asked about President Donald Trump's Ukraine policy, Vance responded: “What the president has said very clearly about our Ukraine policy is that he wants the Ukrainians to come to the negotiating table.
“We want the Ukrainians to have a sovereign and an independent country.”
Vance's remarks come after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said earlier in the day that his administration wants to “work with the U.S. to agree a strong final deal”, a move seemingly aimed at putting Ukraine-U.S. relations back on track.
Relations between Washington and Kyiv hit a new low after Trump, Zelenskyy, and Vance clashed in a fiery on-air exchange in the Oval Office on Friday.
The confrontation, during which Trump threatened to withdraw U.S. support for Ukraine unless Zelenskyy signed a $500 billion minerals deal, sparked fears among America’s traditional allies that Washington could lurch toward Moscow.
The deal would grant the U.S. access to Ukraine’s vast mineral wealth in exchange for American military and financial aid to Kyiv over the three years of war with Russia.
Minerals deal still on the table
When asked whether the deal, which was put in limbo after Friday, could still be signed, Vance said it “certainly” remained an option.
He said: “I think the president is still committed to the mineral deal. I think we’ve heard some positive things, but not yet, of course, a signature from our friends in Ukraine.”
Earlier, both Trump and Zelenskyy had suggested their administrations remained open to signing the deal.
“We see this agreement as a step toward greater security and solid security guarantees, and I truly hope it will work effectively.”
Earlier on Tuesday, Vance triggered a furious backlash after being accused of disrespecting British and French troops by saying that 20,000 soldiers from “random countries” won’t bring peace to Ukraine.
Vance’s comments about the planned British- and French-led European peacekeeping force led politicians and veterans in both countries to accuse him of dishonouring the hundreds of troops killed while fighting alongside U.S. forces in Afghanistan and Iraq.
However, Vance rejected suggestions he was speaking about Britain and France, saying: “I don’t even mention the U.K. or France in the clip, both of whom have fought bravely alongside the U.S. over the last 20 years, and beyond.”
