Vice President JD Vance expressed pessimism that the US will be able to negotiate a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine. 

“I think that we’ve made progress, but sitting here today, I wouldn’t say with confidence that we’re going to get to a peaceful resolution,” Vance told UnHerd in an article published on Monday. “I think there’s a good chance we will. I think there’s a good chance we won’t.”

The Vice President added that he felt there was some progress in getting all the issues “out in the open.”

The interview was published following three days of talks between US and Russian officials in Miami. While both sides described the talks as constructive, the Kremlin said no breakthrough was achieved. 

Vance said one difficult issue that results is the future of Ukraine’s Donbas. Moscow is demanding that Kiev pull its forces from the region and cede the territory to Russia. Vance explained that Ukraine is unwilling to hand the remainder of the Donbas to Russia, even as Kiev expects Russian forces to take the territory within the next year. 

“I think the Russians really want territorial control of the Donetsk,” he explained. “The Ukrainians understandably see that as a major security problem, even as they privately acknowledge that eventually, they’ll probably lose Donetsk — but eventually could be 12 months from now, it could be longer than that.”