 "JD Vance threatens sanctions, military action if Putin rejects Ukraine peace deal")
Vice President JD Vance said on Thursday that the US would impose sanctions and potentially take military action against Moscow if Russian President Vladimir Putin refuses to agree to a peace deal ensuring Ukraine’s long-term independence.
Vance did not rule out deploying US troops to Ukraine if Moscow failed to negotiate in good faith, taking a tougher tone compared to Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, who suggested on Wednesday that the US would not commit forces.
Vance outlined that the U.S. could pursue several measures, providing President Trump with substantial flexibility in negotiations with both Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
“There are economic tools of leverage, there are of course military tools of leverage,” Vance said, as reported by WSJ. “There’s a whole host of things that we could do. But fundamentally, I think the president wants to have a productive negotiation, both with Putin and with Zelenskyy.”
In an interview with The Wall Street Journal shortly after Trump announced his intention to begin negotiations with Putin to end the war in Ukraine, Vance remarked, “I think there is a deal that is going to come out of this that’s going to shock a lot of people.”
Vance met Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Munich on Friday for crunch talks on ending Russia’s war, as Kyiv insisted it wanted to hammer out a joint plan with Washington.
The sit-down in Germany was seen as a key moment for Kyiv as it seeks to keep Washington on its side after US President Donald Trump stunned allies by launching peace efforts with Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsZelenskyy said on Friday that he is prepared to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in person but only after Kyiv and its allies have agreed on a unified plan to end the war.
“I will meet with Russians – with only one Russian guy, with Putin – only after we will have a common plan with Trump, Europe,” Zelensky told the Munich Security Conference before seeing Vance.
With inputs from agencies
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