US vice-president JD Vance doesn't want to wait around for Russia and Ukraine's response to Donald Trump's seven-point peace proposal.
Detailed earlier this month, the president's unconfirmed plan is for Russia to activate an immediate ceasefire, followed by direct talks between the two warring nations.
According to The Telegraph, Ukraine would then need to abandon any NATO ambitions, although it'd still be able to seek membership within the European Union, while the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant has to be handed over to the US, which would consequently sign a minerals deal with Ukraine.
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Speaking in India ahead of the London conference on Wednesday (April 23), Vance suggested time is of the essence when it comes to this 'final offer'.
“We’ve issued a very explicit proposal to both the Russians and Ukrainians, and it's time for them to either say yes or for the US to walk away from this process," the politician told reporters.
"We’ve engaged in an extraordinary amount of diplomacy."
US secretary of state Marco Rubio has already decided not to attend the summit, according to CNN, and instead Trump is sending his special envoy Keith Kellogg.
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Rubio recently announced to the media that the Trump administration insists a peace deal with Russia needs to be figured out 'now', with the country's leader Vladimir Putin seemingly stalling on purpose.
"If it can, we're prepared to do whatever we can to facilitate that and make sure that it... ends in a durable and just way," he explained. “If it’s not possible, if we’re so far apart that this is not going to happen, then I think the president’s probably at a point where he’s going to say, well, we’re done.
“We need to figure out here now, within a matter of days, whether this is doable in the short term, because if it’s not, then I think we’re just going to move on.”
He even went on to personally make demands of Putin, urging him to agree to the US peace deal so that 'people will stop dying, so bullets will stop flying'.
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Speaking after US and Ukrainian officials held talks, he said there was 'no military solution to the conflict' and added: "If [Russia] says no, it will tell us a lot about what their goals are and what their mindset is."
In February 2022, Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine and began occupying great portions of the country, kickstarting one of the worst conflicts in Europe since the Second World War.
Topics: Donald Trump, JD Vance, Ukraine, Russia, Vladimir Putin
Dan Seddon