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Vice President JD Vance on Monday said Trump administration officials are already in talks with Russia to end the years-long war Russia launched against Ukraine, and warned that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky needs to accept Donald Trump’s terms for a mineral rights deal and enter negotiations with Moscow.
Vance’s demand that Zelensky accept the U.S.-backed mineral rights deal follows the Ukrainian leader’s ejection Friday from the White House after an Oval Office shouting match with Vance and Trump.
It also comes just hours after the Trump administration announced it was halting some defense aid to Kyiv at a crucial time in the war as Zelensky’s forces have fought to repel Russian invaders since 2022.
Speaking to Fox News host Sean Hannity, Vance said the idea of having American economic interests “on the ground” in Ukraine would provide a superior security guarantee to putting American or European troops on the ground to guarantee any future ceasefire with Moscow.
“If you want to actually ensure that Vladimir Putin does not invade Ukraine again, the very best security guarantee is to give Americans economic upside in the future of Ukraine,” he said.
“That is a way better security guarantee than 20,000 troops from some random country that hasn’t fought a war in 30 or 40 years. The security guarantee, and also the economic guarantee for Ukraine, is to rebuild the country,” Vance said. “You’re not going to do that if you come to the Oval Office, insult the president and refuse to follow his plan for peace.”
Asked whether Trump would welcome Zelensky back to sign the deal that was left on the table last week, Vance told Hannity that the Ukrainian leader would be allowed back if he “had a serious proposal for how he was going to engage in the process.”
“There are details that really matter, that we’re already working on with the Russians. We’ve already talked to some of our allies, he needs to engage seriously on the details,” he said.
Vance also told Hannity that Trump has “set a very clear goal for his administration” regarding Ukraine, which is simply wanting “the killing to stop” without regard for whether any peace deal he brokers allows Russia to get away with changing European borders by force for the first time since the Second World War.
Vance claimed that Zelensky had “showed a clear unwillingness to engage in the peace process that President Trump has said is the policy of the American people and of their president” by refusing to accept Trump’s desire to negotiate a peace plan on his country’s behalf.
Vance added: “I think Zelensky wasn’t yet there, and I think, frankly, now still isn’t there, but I think we’ll get there eventually. He has to.”