Vance told NBC’s “Meet the Press with Kristen Welker” that Russian President Vladimir Putin had accepted that Ukraine would receive security guarantees against future aggression.
“I think the Russians have made significant concessions to President Trump for the first time in three and a half years of this conflict,” he said in an interview aired Sunday.
“They’ve recognized that they’re not going to be able to install a puppet regime in Kyiv […] and importantly, they’ve acknowledged that there is going to be some security guarantee to the territorial integrity of Ukraine,” Vance added.
Russia’s invasion, launched in February 2022, has killed tens of thousands. In return for ending its attacks, Putin is demanding Ukraine cede the entire Donbas region, renounce NATO membership, remain neutral and keep Western troops out, sources told Reuters last week.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in a separate interview broadcast Sunday that a group of nations, including U.N. Security Council members, should guarantee Ukraine’s security.
President Donald Trump on Friday renewed a threat to impose sanctions on Russia if there is no progress toward a settlement within two weeks, signaling frustration a week after his meeting with Putin in Alaska.
Vance said any sanctions would be considered case by case, acknowledging fresh penalties were unlikely to prompt an immediate ceasefire.
He cited Trump’s recent 25% tariff on Indian goods—described as punishment for New Delhi’s purchases of Russian oil—as an example of the economic leverage Washington could use.
“He’s tried to make it clear that Russia can be re-invited into the world economy if they stop the killing, but they’re going to continue to be isolated if they don’t,” Vance said.
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Source: Polskie Radio 24, Reuters