Vance Says Russia ‘Asking for Too Much’ in Cease-Fire Negotiations

The vice president said Putin had demanded Ukraine surrender territories that Moscow had failed to occupy or capture.

U.S. Vice President JD Vance and Wolfgang Ischinger, president of the Foundation Council, participate in a discussion at the Munich Security Conference at the Willard Hotel in Washington, on May 7, 2025. Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images

Russian leadership is seeking unrealistic concessions in exchange for initiating a cease-fire with Ukraine, according to Vice President JD Vance.

Speaking at the Munich Security Conference on May 7, Vance said that Moscow’s first proposals for beginning negotiations to end its war in Ukraine were non-starters.