U.S. President Donald Trump is growing impatient with Russia as the Kremlin refuses to work towards a peace deal, U.S. Vice President JD Vance said on Sept. 24.
“I believe the president is growing incredibly impatient with the Russians right now because he doesn’t feel like they’re putting enough on the table to end the war,” Vance told reporters in North Carolina.
The vice president’s remarks come a day after Trump and Zelensky met on the sidelines of the U.N.'s annual leader-level General Assembly. The U.S. leader has previously called for Ukraine to make concessions to Russia, but following his meeting with Zelensky, he signaled that Kyiv may be able to return all of its territory as Moscow refuses to cease hostilities.
“After getting to know and fully understand the Ukraine/Russia Military and Economic situation and, after seeing the Economic trouble it is causing Russia, I think Ukraine, with the support of the European Union, is in a position to fight and WIN all of Ukraine back in its original form,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform afterward on Sept. 23.
Vance noted that the U.S. has engaged “in incredibly good faith negotiations with both the Russians and Ukrainians” as Moscow continues to refuse to do the same.
“(Trump) wants this war to end, and he’s doing everything that he can to stop it. But, look, if the Russians refuse to negotiate in good faith, I think it’s going to be very, very bad for their country. That’s what the president made clear,” he said.
The views Trump shared with Vance are not a shift in position but “an acknowledgment of the reality on the ground” as Washington continues towards ending Russia’s war against Ukraine, Vance said.
“Number two, the president has grown very confident that this war is bad for Russia. You hear me say this all the time. You hear the president say this all the time. The war is bad for Russia. It’s bad for Ukraine. It’s bad for America. We want the killing to stop. That remains the president’s position,” Vance said.
Trump has previously cited his positive relationship with Putin as a factor that will help the U.S. broker a peace deal to end Russia’s war. The Russian leader was welcomed by Trump in Alaska as the two met on Aug. 15.
Despite Trump’s calls for a peace deal to be reached, Russia has refused to cease hostilities against Ukraine.
In response, Trump has increasingly expressed frustration towards Putin for failing to work towards a diplomatic end to the war.
On Sept. 18, speaking at a joint press conference with U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Trump said that Putin had “let him down.”
“The one that I thought would be the easiest (to end) was because of my relationship with President Putin,” he said. “But he’s let me down. He’s really let me down.”
Despite concerns from the White House, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio met Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly on Sept. 24.
Following the meeting, Rubio called on Lavrov to halt “the killing” and pursue peaceful negotiations with Ukraine.
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