Vance joins Putin: "Ukraine and Russia must give up territory"

To reach a genuine peace agreement, both Russia and Ukraine will have to relinquish territory. That's according to the American Vice President JD Vance. Thus, he seems to align with the Russian president, who suddenly appears to be making concessions under pressure from the US.

The American Vice President said on Wednesday that the United States has put a "very explicit proposal" on the table for peace between Russia and Ukraine. This would require both countries to give up some of the territory they currently control.

"It's time for them to say either 'yes' or 'no' or for the United States to withdraw from this process", Vance emphatically states.

A slap in the face for Ukraine

"The current (front) line, or something close to it, will according to me be where the new line is drawn", declared Vance after visiting the Taj Mahal in India. With this, the American Vice President aligns himself with Vladimir Putin who also seems to suggest recognising the current front line as the new borders. However, for Ukraine this would mean a great loss. The Ukrainian President Zelensky has consistently stated that he wants to reclaim all lost territory, including the Crimean Peninsula annexed by Russia in 2014, and won't concede a single square metre of Ukrainian land to Putin.

Kremlin makes concessions

During a meeting in St Petersburg with the American special envoy Steve Witkoff, the Russian president reportedly indicated a willingness to end the conflict immediately, provided that Russia retains the area it has already captured. This would mean that the Kremlin would drop its claim to full control over the four partially occupied Ukrainian regions. This is reported by the Financial Times. It's the first time Putin has made a significant concession which could help advance the peace negotiations.

Moreover, according to the British quality newspaper, the Trump administration is reportedly willing to recognise Crimea as part of Russia, along with other Russian-occupied territories that have been conquered since the start of the conflict.

This suggests that there is finally some movement in these arduous peace negotiations...

(FVDV - Source: The India Times/Fox News/Financial Times - Illustration: ©The White House, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons )