Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance appeared on the same day on the program “Meet the Press” on NBC. However, their assessments of the peace negotiation process differed greatly.
J.D. Vance spoke optimistically about the prospects for achieving peace and called the compromises made by Russia “significant.”
“For the first time in 3.5 years, Russia has shown flexibility regarding key demands and discussed what is necessary to end the war. They recognized Ukraine's territorial integrity after the war, ruled out the possibility of establishing a puppet regime in Kyiv, and acknowledged post-war security guarantees,” stated the U.S. Vice President. He also added that ultimately the U.S. will either succeed or hit a wall, but even then will continue the negotiation process using leverage, calling it “energetic diplomacy.”
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated that there are still irreconcilable contradictions between the positions of Russia and Ukraine, which the U.S. is unable to resolve, adding that Putin will not meet with Volodymyr Zelensky as there is currently no clear agenda.
“Meeting just for Zelensky to appear on stage again, we do not find useful. We are not against his games and various shows, but this will not solve the problem, as he publicly stated that he does not intend to discuss any territories, thus challenging President Trump and other American colleagues who have stated that the territorial issue should be on the negotiation table. He clearly stated that no one can forbid him from joining NATO, which again categorically contradicts the statements of President Trump and a number of other things,” Lavrov reported.
When asked about the shelling of an American electronics manufacturing plant in the Zakarpattia region, which resulted in more than 20 people being injured, J.D. Vance recalled former U.S. President Joe Biden, who “did nothing to stop the killings.” “I don’t like it, but this is war, and that’s why we want to stop the killings. The Russians have done a lot that we don’t like. Many civilians have died. We have condemned this from the very beginning, and frankly, President Trump did more to pressure the Russians than Joe Biden did over the three and a half years, when he only talked and did nothing to stop the killings,” reported the U.S. Vice President.
Sergey Lavrov called the American plant in the Zakarpattia region a “military target,” citing intelligence data. However, when the host asked to confirm that Russia struck the American enterprise, he stated that he was speaking hypothetically, as he had never heard of this “incident.”