The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, must apologize to President Donald Trump and ensure that he is committed to peace, the Vice President of the US, JD Vance, told the voice of America.
The United States Vice President JD Vance said on Tuesday that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy must say that he is committed to peace and apologize to US President Donald Trump.
In an encounter with journalists in the Capitol on the Pause decreed by Trump to the aid to UkraineVance said that public statements do not count. “We need Ukrainians to come to tell us privately that this is what they want,” that “this is how they will participate in the process to put an end to that conflict.”
According to Vance, that “is the most important thing, and the lack of that private contact is what worries us most.”
To a question by the Ukrainian service journalist of the Voa, Kateryna Lisunova, on whether the United States should press Russia more to take it to the negotiating table with Ukraine, such as imposing more sanctions or other steps, Vance replied that “he did not believe it right.”
“I mean, we have a large number of sanctions on Russia. We believe that the Russians are battling economically because of this conflict. We believe it is good for their interests, as well as for the interests of Ukraine and the United States that this conflict ends, ”he said.
Vance added that the US “believes in applying pressure to all, stop the killing, because that is the policy of the president (Trump) and is the best for the American people.”
The vice president also said that he believed that the mineral agreement is possible.
“The president is still committed to the agreement on minerals. I think we have heard positive things, but still, of course a signature of our friends in Ukraine, ”he said.
He added that the mineral agreement is really an important part of the president's policy.
“Number one: the American people have to receive something for the incredible financial investment we have made in that country. Much of the help of European countries has been in money that is being returned. And well, it is ridiculous and frankly an insult to the American people that Europeans enjoy a better treatment than the American people. ”
To another question of whether the pause of help to Ukraine can give the Russians any advantage, Vance insisted that President Trump “has been very clear about the policy for Ukraine, which is that the Ukrainians go to the negotiating table.”
“We want the Ukrainians to have a sovereign and independent country. We think that Ukrainian troops have been very brave, but we are at a point where neither Europe nor the United States nor Ukrainians can continue with this war indefinitely. That is why it is important that everyone goes to the table and the president is sending an implicit message: the Ukrainians have to come to the table and start negotiating with President Trump, ”he said.