U.S. Vice President JD Vance disputed on March 4 that the Trump administration was not pressuring Moscow to bring it to peace talks, arguing that the existing sanctions are straining Russia's economy.
"Well, I don’t think that’s right, actually," Vance replied to a journalist who suggested that Washington is exerting pressure on Kyiv but not on Moscow.
"We still have a number of sanctions that are placed on Russians. We do believe the Russians, economically, are struggling because of this conflict."
The comments came the same day that the U.S. froze crucial military assistance for Ukraine in an attempt to pressure Kyiv to the negotiating table.
The decision came after a public dispute between President Volodymyr Zelensky, U.S. President Donald Trump, and Vance in the Oval Office on Feb. 28, after which U.S. leaders berated the Ukrainian president for not being "ready for peace" and supposed lack of gratitude.
The aid freeze raised concerns among Kyiv's other partners and was welcomed by the Kremlin, whose all-out war against Ukraine entered its fourth year.
The U.S. has intensified diplomatic outreach to Moscow, holding two rounds of bilateral talks last month. The Trump administration has so far kept the sanctions against Russia imposed by the Biden administration in place, but the U.S. media reported that the White House is considering easing some of them as part of a peace process.
"We believe it is in Russia's best interest, and the United States' and Ukraine's best interest, to bring this conflict to a close. We believe applying pressure to everybody to stop the killing. That’s what the president’s policy is," Vance said.
Trump has not proposed any new sanctions against Russia and has praised his contacts with the Kremlin while adopting an increasingly hostile rhetoric toward Ukraine.
Vance's comments came ahead of Trump's address to a joint session of Congress, during which the U.S. president reiterated the need to end the war as quickly as possible but made no direct mention of the aid freeze.
Trump also said he appreciated Zelensky's statement in support of peace and claimed that both Russia and Ukraine are ready for talks.
Abbey Fenbert
(Updated: )
