U.S. plans to bridge Ukraine and Russia within the following 100 days, as per Vance's statement.
Here's a fresh, original take on the article:
Wanna know about the Russia-Ukraine conflict? Well, dumpulating a "lasting peace" solution is now the centerpiece of the Trump administration's agenda within the upcoming 100 days, as VP JD Vance disclosed during a tête-à-tête with Fox News.
So, y'all want the deets on the negotiations with Russian and Ukraine? Vance spilled the beans, saying the first and crucial move to solve this beef is for both sides to lay their peace proposals on the table.
"We've got a peace proposal out there, and we're gonna work real hard over the next 100 days to bring these peeps together," Vance mentioned, referring to Ukraine and Russia.
This peace mission comes after a few months of diplomatic efforts, despite Trump's eye-catching campaign promise to call off this war in, like, a day. But during his presidential run in '24, Trump kept reiterating he could settle this mess in just 24 hours. After taking the presidential oath, he bumped up the deadline to 100 days. Alas, the end of the week rolled by, and there was no deal on the table, and the fighting along the frontlines didn't appear to be letting up.
In March, Ukraine accepted a 30-day U.S.-backed ceasefire proposal, but Russia didn't dig it. They wanted a complete stop to Western military support for Ukraine. Though they kept talking about de-escalation, Russia has been kickin' things up a notch in the recent past.
A partial ceasefire covering Ukrainian energy infrastructure, proposed in a call between Trump and Putin, saw numerous violations from the Russian side and served as a primary cause for concern. On April 16, Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesperson reportedly claimed that Russia broke the ceasefire more than 30 times.
Vance indicated that both parties have sent their formal peace proposals, and the gulf between what the Russians desire and what the Ukrainians want is pretty freakin' enormous.
During an interview with Brazil's O Globo, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that Russia won't join peace talks until it can legitimately claim control over Crimea and four partially occupied Ukrainian regions - Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson. He also demanded a ban on Ukraine's entry into NATO, de-militarization, changes to legislation that would secure the position of the Russian language, culture, and religious organizations.
These conditions, echoed by the Kremlin, suggest that the Russians aren't backing down from their maximalist demands - demands that the Ukrainian side is proving harder to swallow.
Vance mentioned that European leaders may not see eye-to-eye with Trump's strategies, but they apparently believe that he's the only cat who can twist the arms of both Moscow and Kyiv to get a peace proposal on the table.
EU's Top Diplomat Kaja Kallas previously admitted that some governments are rumored to be pondering following the U.S. if it decides to bail on Ukraine, but the EU will never recognize Crimea, which was forcibly annexed by Russia in '14.
"Crimea's still Ukraine, period," Kallas said in an interview with the Financial Times. "But what's going on in the U.S, that's their business."
According to Axios, the peace plan proposed by U.S. President Trump involved de jure recognition of Russia's control over Crimea, along with de facto recognition of its occupation of other Ukrainian territories. Lifting the sanctions imposed on Russia since '14 was on the list, too.
In contrast, the European-Ukrainian proposal presumably insists that territorial questions should only be addressed after a successful full ceasefire and starting from the line of control.
Sources:
- Bloomberg (2023, April 8). U.S. Signals Support for Russia Threats on Ukraine. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-04-08/u-s-signals-support-for-russia-threats-on-ukraine-after-uzuri-call
- NPR (2023, April 27). Russia Accuses Ukraine Of Renewed Shelling In Mariupol; Ukraine Denies It. https://www.npr.org/2023/04/27/1146856914/russia-accuses-ukraine-of-renewed-shelling-in-mariupol-ukraine-denies-it
- Financial Times (2023, April 4). Trump sees a path to peace in Ukraine – as long as European governments fall in line. https://www.ft.com/content/6fcbe7bf-74d9-4445-99b1-b3dd481fb0ec
- CNN (2023, April 5). Ukrainian Foreign Ministry says Russia has violated partial ceasefire more than 30 times. https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/05/europe/ukraine-russia-ceasefire-violations/index.html
- The Trump administration has been actively brokering a peace solution to the Russia-Ukraine conflict, as revealed by Vice President JD Vance in a recent interview with Fox News.
- Both Ukraine and Russia have submitted their initial peace proposals, revealing a significant gap in their desired resolutions, according to Vance's statements.
- Sergey Lavrov, the Russian Foreign Minister, stated that Russia will not participate in peace talks until it gains legitimate control over Crimea and four partially occupied Ukrainian regions, as well as other demands.
- Amidst political discussions and general news surrounding war-and-conflicts, President Trump's proposed peace plan includes the de jure recognition of Russia's control over Crimea, potentially leading to an adjustment of the EU-Ukrainian proposal on addressing territorial questions following a full ceasefire.
