US wants direct talks between Ukraine and Russia. Moscow demands "too much", - Vance
U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance said that direct peace talks between Ukraine and Russia are needed now, although the Russians are demanding "too much."
He said this during a speech at the Munich Leaders Conference in Washington, Censor.NET reports.
"It is probably impossible to mediate in this matter without at least some direct negotiations between Russia and Ukraine," he said.
According to him, Washington is ready to participate in such a process.
In addition, he noted, the United States believes that Russia is demanding "too much" in peace talks to end the war against Ukraine, but he cannot say that the Russians are not interested in reaching a peace agreement.
"We believe that the Russians are asking for too much. There is a big gap between the positions of Ukrainians and Russians," the US Vice President added.
That is why the US now wants Russia and Ukraine to hold direct talks with each other. This, says Vance, should be the next step in achieving peace.
"The step that we want to take right now is that we would like both Russians and Ukrainians to agree on some basic principles for a conversation [...] It is very important for Russians and Ukrainians to start talking to each other... The United States is trying to focus on a long-term settlement in Ukraine, to move away from the idea of a truce, because Russia does not like it," the US Vice President summarized.
