US President Donald Trump “doesn’t see any reason why we should economically isolate Russia except for the continuation of the conflict [in Ukraine],” Vice President JD Vance said in remarks made public on Wednesday.
Speaking on right-wing channel One America News’s “The Matt Gaetz Show”, Vance said that the US may seek to find an end to the war in Ukraine that would capitalize on Russia’s oil resources.
Asked if sanctions relief and deepened economic cooperation with Russia could bring an end to hostilities, Vance said: “It’s one of the carrots that we’ve thrown out there. And [Trump] has been very open with both the Europeans and the Russians that he doesn’t see any reason why we should economically isolate Russia except for the continuation of the conflict.”
“Let’s be honest: whether you like or dislike Russia, whether you agree or disagree with their underlying arguments for the conflict, the simple fact is they’ve got a lot of oil. They’ve got a lot of gas. They’ve got a lot of mineral wealth,” the Vice President elaborated.
“I think the President is absolutely right that once we get this peace settled, we could have a very productive economic relationship with both Russia and Ukraine in the future,” he said, adding that closer ties “might actually be the best guarantee of a long-term peace.”
When asked about the status of peace negotiations between Ukraine and Russia, Vance expressed optimism that a settlement would be reached.
“[Trump] is using every tool that we have at our disposal as an administration to try to get them to the table,” he explained. “I think now we’re at a point where we’ve at least narrowed it down to a couple of core issues.”
For Russia’s part, Vance said that Putin is demanding “about 6,000 or so square kilometers that they have not yet conquered through military force,” while Kyiv seeks security guarantees.
“I do think that eventually you’re going to come to a peaceful settlement. The question is whether it lasts another year or another month, whether you have another hundred thousand or another million, god forbid, people die in the process,” the Vice President finished.
The Trump administration has sent conflicting messages about whether it will impose stricter economic consequences on Russia if it continues its aggression in Ukraine.
On Tuesday, a US official told AFP that the United States is ready to broaden tariffs targeting buyers of Russian oil in order to cut off revenue Moscow needs for the war in Ukraine.
It came after Trump said he was prepared to move to a “second phase” of sanctions against Moscow after a Sunday attack which rained down 805 drones and 13 missiles across Ukraine, killing four people in Kyiv.
However, no details of such sanctions have been announced and Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov shrugged off the threat, saying “no sanctions will be able to force the Russian Federation to change the consistent position that our president has repeatedly spoken about.”
Back in March, it was reported that advisors to Trump were “sketching out” options to ease sanctions imposed on Russia as an incentive for Russia to agree to a peace deal with Ukraine.
Speaking on Wednesday, Vance said of Trump: “Sometimes [he] is, candidly, frustrated with the Ukrainian side. Sometimes he’s frustrated by the Russian side.”
“The question really is whether the Russians and the Ukrainians are going to walk through that door of peace that the President has opened,” he concluded.