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Will Vance remark about US bailing on Ukraine encourage Putin to sink nascent peace talks?

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Vice President JD Vance’s suggestion this week that the U.S. could walk away from supporting Ukraine if peace talks with Russia stagnate could serve as catnip for the Kremlin, according to experts who say Russian President Vladimir Putin might choose to smother progress in hopes of getting America to wash «its hands of the war.»

While President Donald Trump has indicated that the U.S. may disengage from the negotiations as a last resort if they prove futile, Vance has taken the rhetoric a step further by saying the U.S. is definitely open to doing so. 

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«We’re more than open to walking away,» Vance told reporters on board Air Force Two on Monday, just moments before a high-stakes phone call between Trump and Putin. «The United States is not going to spin its wheels here. We want to see outcomes.»

But Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy cautioned that no one wins if the U.S. steps aside from the talks, except for Russia. 

«It is crucial for all of us that the United States does not distance itself from the talks and the pursuit of peace because the only one who benefits from that is Putin,» Zelenskyy wrote in a Monday post on X.

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Vance’s remark about abandoning mediation between the two countries would only embolden Russia, even though a lack of U.S. involvement still wouldn’t give Putin everything he wants, according to John Hardie, the deputy director of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies’ Russia program, a nonprofit research institute based in Washington.

For the moment, Moscow still benefits from U.S. involvement in the talks because the Kremlin wants the U.S. to help advance a deal that benefits Russia and alleviates sanctions, Hardie said.

«But, for the Kremlin, the United States washing its hands of the war would be the next best outcome if it means an end or reduction to U.S. support for Ukraine, especially since President Trump may well move to normalize relations with Russia anyhow,» Hardie told Fox News Digital. «So the administration’s threat to walk away risks perversely incentivizing Kremlin intransigence. A better approach would be to ramp up the economic and military pressure on Russia if Putin continues to reject compromise.»

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Russia still desires normalization with the U.S., which can only happen if the war ends swiftly and relatively amicably, said Peter Rough, a senior fellow and director of the Center on Europe and Eurasia at the Hudson Institute think tank. 

«That reset in relations is a giant carrot the administration is dangling in front of the Kremlin,» Rough told Fox News Digital. «If the U.S. walks away because Russia will not make peace, however, then that carrot disappears as well.»

Rough noted that other administration officials besides Vance, including Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, have mentioned the possibility of walking away from a deal, so Vance’s comments don’t necessarily reflect a huge change in policy. And it’s unclear right now what exactly stepping aside would mean.

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«The purpose of those comments has been to impress on the Kremlin that U.S. patience is not limitless,» Rough said. 

Vance hasn’t shied away from issuing bold foreign policy statements since becoming vice president. From sparring with Zelenskyy in the Oval Office in February to appearing to counter Trump when Vance remarked in May that the war in Ukraine was far from over after Trump indicated a deal might emerge soon, Vance has been outspoken in a way most vice presidents haven’t been.

When asked for comment or if there were any concerns about Vance’s Monday statement, the White House referred Fox News Digital to Vance’s office. Vance’s office declined to provide comment when asked if his remarks would encourage Russia to sit the negotiations out and continue its attacks.

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‘Fundamental mistrust’

Vance has adopted an outspoken approach as vice president, starting off with his fiery February statements at the Munich Security Council in which he asserted that Europe needed to «step up in a big way to provide for its own defense.» 

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That boldness has carried over into the Russia-Ukraine negotiations, where Vance has taken a proactive approach, at times appearing to be forging his own path.  

Vance and Rubio engaged in discussions to end the conflict in Ukraine with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in Rome on Sunday, among other issues. Vance and Rubio also discussed the Trump administration’s efforts to end the war with Vatican prelate Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher on Monday. 

Aboard Air Force Two on Monday, Vance said the negotiations had reached «a bit of [an] impasse» between the two countries and that the conflict is not the Trump administration’s war to wage but rather belongs to former President Joe Biden and Putin. 

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«There is fundamental mistrust between Russia and the West. It’s one of the things the president thinks is, frankly, stupid, that we should be able to move beyond,» Vance told reporters. «The mistakes that have been made in the past, but … that takes two to tango.»

«I know the president’s willing to do that, but if Russia’s not willing to do that, then we’re eventually just going to have to say … this is not our war,» Vance said. «It’s Joe Biden’s war, it’s Vladimir Putin’s war. It’s not our war. We’re going to try to end it, but if we can’t end it, we’re eventually going to say, ‘You know what? That was worth a try, but we’re not doing it anymore.’»

TRUMP INSISTS UKRAINE-RUSSIA PEACE DEAL IS CLOSE, BUT MISTRUST IN PUTIN LEAVES EXPERTS SKEPTICAL

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Vance’s Monday statement came just before Trump was scheduled to speak with Putin, seemingly undercutting the high-leverage telephone call and also underscoring Vance’s influence over foreign policy matters in the White House. 

Specifically on Ukraine negotiations, Vance has remained outspoken, engaging in confrontation when Zelenskyy visited the White House in February. 

In that exchange, Vance accused Zelenskyy of being «disrespectful» after Zelenskyy pointed out that Putin has a track record of breaking agreements and countered Vance’s statements that the path forward was through diplomacy to end the war in Ukraine. 

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«Do you think that it’s respectful to come to the Oval Office of the United States of America and attack the administration that is trying to prevent the destruction of your country?» Vance asked at the Oval Office meeting. 

Almost immediately after the U.S. signed a minerals deal with Ukraine on May 1, Vance said the war in Ukraine wouldn’t end in the near future, despite the fact that Trump indicated the previous week that an agreement was on the horizon. 

«It’s not going anywhere,» Vance told Fox News on May 1. «It’s not going to end anytime soon.» 

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Still, he characterized the agreement as «good progress» in the negotiations. 

Trump’s talk with Putin

Trump and Putin spoke over the phone Monday to advance peace negotiations to halt the conflict between Moscow and Kyiv, just days after Russia and Ukraine met in Turkey to conduct their first peace talks since 2022. 

After the call, Trump said both countries would move toward a ceasefire and advance talks to end the war. 

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Meanwhile, Trump has suggested continued U.S. involvement may not be a viable option moving forward, but he has been reticent about specifics on what would actually prompt him to walk away from the talks. For example, Trump said on May 8 in an interview with NBC News that he believes peace is possible but that the U.S. wouldn’t act as a mediator forever.

«Well, there will be a time when I will say, ‘OK, keep going, keep being stupid,» Trump said in the interview. 

«Maybe it’s not possible to do,» he said. «There’s tremendous hatred.»

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Still, Trump signaled that the U.S. would take a backseat in the negotiations between Moscow and Kyiv after his call with Putin. 

«The conditions for that will be negotiated between the two parties, as it can only be, because they know the details of a negotiation that nobody else would be aware of,» Trump said in a Monday post on Truth Social. 

Trump has continued to distance the U.S. from the conflict, and he later described the conflict as a «European situation.» 

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«Big egos involved, but I think something’s going to happen,» Trump told reporters on Monday. «And if it doesn’t, I’ll just back away and they’ll have to keep going. This was a European situation. It should have remained a European situation.»

Trump also doubled down on extracting the U.S. from the war, claiming it didn’t involve U.S. personnel. 

«It’s not our people, it’s not our soldiers … it’s Ukraine and it’s Russia,» Trump said in the Oval Office on Wednesday while hosting South African President Cyril Ramaphosa.

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TRUMP SAYS HE COULD ‘WALK AWAY’ FROM RUSSIA-UKRAINE TALKS, CITES ‘TREMENDOUS HATRED’ ON BOTH SIDES

According to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, sanctions against Russia could ramp up in the event Russia fails to cooperate. 

«President Trump has made it very clear that if President Putin does not negotiate in good faith that the United States will not hesitate to up the Russia sanctions along with our European partners,» Bessent said Sunday in an interview with NBC. 

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Vance has previously said the concessions that Russia is seeking from Ukraine to end the conflict are too stringent but believes there is a viable path to peace and wants both to find common ground. 

«The step that we would like to make right now is we would like both the Russians and the Ukrainians to actually agree on some basic guidelines for sitting down and talking to one another,» Vance said at the Munich Leaders Meeting in Washington on May 7.

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Russia’s demands include Ukraine never joining NATO and preventing foreign peacekeeper troops from deploying to Ukraine after the conflict. Russia is also seeking to adjust some of the borders that previously were Ukraine’s.

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INTERNACIONAL

El ejército de Israel comienza a rebelarse contra la ocupación total de Gaza

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El ejército de Israel tendrá que «ejecutar» las decisiones políticas sobre la guerra en la Franja de Gaza, señaló este miércoles el ministro de Defensa, en momentos en que empiezan a surgir discrepancias en sus filas ante la perspectiva de una ocupación total del territorio palestino.

En los últimos días, la prensa israelí ha revelado las reservas e incluso la oposición del jefe del Estado Mayor, el general Eyal Zamir, a la decisión del gobierno de Benjamin Netanyahu de ampliar las operaciones del ejército en Gaza para vencer «totalmente» a Hamas y traer de vuelta a los rehenes que están todavía en manos del grupo extremista desde el brutal ataque terrorista del 7 de octubre de 2023.

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La cadena de televisión pública Kan 11 informó el miércoles que el general Zamir había advertido el día anterior, durante una reunión, que la ocupación total de Gaza supondría una «trampa».

Los medios israelíes, que citan funcionarios que pidieron el anonimato, afirman que el gobierno planea una nueva escalada de las operaciones en el territorio palestino, incluso en zonas donde podrían estar retenidos los rehenes y áreas muy pobladas.

Soldados israelíes, en la frontera con la Franja de Gaza, en el sur de Israel. Foto: AP

La orden del ministro de Defensa

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«Es el derecho y el deber del jefe del Estado Mayor expresar su posición en los foros apropiados», comentó el miércoles el ministro de Defensa, Israel Katz.


«Pero después de que se tomen decisiones por parte del nivel político, el ejército las ejecutará con determinación y profesionalismo (…) hasta que se alcancen los objetivos de la guerra», subrayó Katz en X.

Según el diario Maariv, el general Zamir advirtió el martes que «intensificar los combates podría acarrear la muerte de los rehenes que siguen en vida» y también habría reiterado «su oposición a una decisión de conquistar completamente la Franja de Gaza», que Israel ya ocupó entre 1967 y 2005.

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El jefe de la oposición, Yair Lapid, consideró que «la dirección que emprende el gobierno conducirá a la muerte de todos los rehenes por hambre, golpes y tortura».

Un tanque del ejército de Israel, cerca de la frontera con Gaza, este miércoles. Foto: REUTERS  Un tanque del ejército de Israel, cerca de la frontera con Gaza, este miércoles. Foto: REUTERS

Benjamin Netanyahu reúne a su gabinete de seguridad


Netanyahu reunirá el jueves a su gabinete de seguridad para tomar las decisiones finales sobre la nueva fase de la guerra, indicó la prensa israelí.


«Es necesario derrotar totalmente al enemigo en Gaza, liberar a todos nuestros rehenes y asegurarse de que Gaza ya no constituya una amenaza para Israel», afirmó Netanyahu el martes.

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En guerra contra Hamas desde la masacre del movimiento ultraislámico palestino en su territorio en octubre de 2023, el gobierno israelí enfrenta una creciente presión para encontrar una salida al conflicto.

Netanyahu está sometido a una doble presión: en Israel, por la situación de 49 rehenes capturados el 7 de octubre, de los que 27 habrían muerto según el ejército; y en el resto del mundo, por el sufrimiento de los más de dos millones de palestinos que viven hacinados en la Franja, arrasada y amenazada por una «hambruna generalizada», según la ONU.

En los últimos días, la presión aumentó aún más a raíz de los videos difundidos por Hamas y Yihad Islámica en los que aparecen dos rehenes israelíes, Evaytar David y Rom Braslavski, muy debilitados y demacrados.

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Más muertos en un centro de distribución de comida

En la asediada Franja de Gaza, donde entra muy poca ayuda humanitaria, la Defensa Civil reportó este miércoles la muerte de 20 personas en el accidente de un camión de víveres que se volcó sobre la multitud por la noche.


«El camión se volcó cuando cientos de civiles aguardaban ayuda alimentaria en la zona de Nuseirat, en el centro de la Franja de Gaza», informó a AFP el portavoz de la Defensa Civil, Mahmud Bassal.

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Camiones con ayuda humanitaria esperan para entrar a la Franja de Gaza por el cruce de Rafah, en la frontera con Egipto. Foto: AP  Camiones con ayuda humanitaria esperan para entrar a la Franja de Gaza por el cruce de Rafah, en la frontera con Egipto. Foto: AP

Por su parte, Hamas denunció que «a pesar de la reciente autorización limitada de algunos camiones de ayuda, el ocupante (Israel) obstaculiza deliberadamente el paso seguro y la distribución de esta ayuda».


Esto «obliga a los conductores a tomar rutas abarrotadas de civiles hambrientos», añadió.


Al ser preguntado por AFP, un militar israelí afirmó que el ejército no estuvo involucrado en el incidente.

Caroline Willemen, una responsable de Médicos Sin Fronteras, denunció la «crisis del hambre» en Gaza e insistió en que la situación es «devastadora».

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«Seguimos viendo a pacientes a los que les disparan, o aplastados en sitios de reparto de ayuda», agregó en redes sociales.


Israel había impuesto en Gaza un bloqueo total el 2 de marzo y lo levantó parcialmente en mayo, autorizando únicamente la entrada de cantidades muy limitadas, consideradas insuficientes por la ONU.


El ataque del 7 de octubre de 2023 provocó la muerte, en Israel, de 1.219 personas, civiles en su mayoría, según un recuento basado en cifras oficiales.

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La ofensiva que Israel lanzó en respuesta e Gaza mató a al menos 61.158 personas, también mayoritariamente civiles, según cifras del Ministerio de Salud del territorio, gobernado por Hamas desde 2007. La ONU considera fiables estos datos.

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‘Should have been prepared’: GOP senators fight for unified message on Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’

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Now that the Senate has fled Washington until after Labor Day, Republicans finally have a chance to sell President Donald Trump’s «big, beautiful bill» to their constituents, but some fear that Democrats already have an advantage in the messaging war.

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Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., said that Republicans could «absolutely» do better in selling the colossal bill to combat Democrats’ «lies.»  

«Well, we should have been prepared right off the bat and talked about, ‘No, we’re not talking about reforming Medicaid designed for [women, children and the elderly]. We’re looking at how we can save and preserve it and repair the damage done by the Obamacare addition to it,’» he told Fox News Digital. «We should have been talking about that, but we didn’t.»

SENATE GOP READY TO GO NUCLEAR AFTER SCHUMER’S ‘POLITICAL EXTORTION’ OF NOMINEES

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President Donald Trump in the East Room of the White House on July 30, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

Since Trump signed the bill into law, and throughout the entire process to get it to his desk, Democrats have largely been unified in their attacks against the bill, rebranding it as Republicans’ «big, ugly betrayal,» and targeting cuts to Medicaid, food assistance and a litany of other policies.

«It’s a very unpopular bill, so if I were them, I would probably go out and start trying to spin,» Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., told Fox News Digital.

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Messaging against the bill has become routine in Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s floor speeches, where he often targets the cuts to Medicaid touted by the GOP as reforms to a broken system.

«The more Americans learn about the Republicans’ bill, the more they are realizing that Donald Trump and Republicans sold them a raw deal,» the New York Democrat said in a floor speech last week. «The Republicans’ ‘big, ugly betrayal’ is one of the most devastating bills for Americans’ healthcare that we’ve ever seen.»

TRUMP TELLS SCHUMER TO ‘GO TO HELL’ OVER SENATE NOMINEE DEAL FUNDING DEMANDS AFTER NEGOTIATIONS COLLAPSE

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Schumer at the Capitol

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., turns to an aide during a news conference where he commented on Elon Musk’s criticism of President Donald Trump’s spending and tax bill, at the Capitol in Washington on June 3, 2025.  (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Polling of the bill’s favorability among Americans is also working against Republicans. A Fox News poll conducted in June after the House GOP passed the legislation found that 59% of respondents opposed the bill.

Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., charged that «90% of the media is lying» about the bill, and countered that Republicans were actually increasing Medicaid spending faster than the rate of inflation «to the tune of $200 billion a year when it’s all said.»

«This is not the first message like this that we’ve struggled to get the truth through,» he told Fox News Digital.

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«Republicans need to lean into it,» he continued. «We worked really hard, and we’re going to save and preserve Medicaid for those who need it the most. And we need to be sharing that.»

TAX CUTS, WORK REQUIREMENTS AND ASYLUM FEES: HERE’S WHAT’S INSIDE THE SENATE’S VERSION OF TRUMP’S BILL

Sen. Tommy Tuberville

Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) arrives for a Senate Republican Caucus luncheon at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on April 2, 2025. (Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., contended that Republicans shouldn’t be shy about the work they put into the bill.

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Hawley, shortly after the bill passed early last month, held an event in his home state pushing the bill. He, alongside former Rep. Cori Bush, D-Mo., lauded the bill’s inclusion of his Radiation Exposure Compensation Act, which renewed and expanded compensation funding for people exposed to nuclear waste.

When asked if Republicans had gotten off to a slow start on selling the bill, he said that too much time had been devoted to talking «about Medicaid, for my own taste.»

«It’s less of that,» he said. «Talk about the tax cuts in this bill for working people, you know. I mean, that’s what people want. I mean, I was asked when I went home. I was asked immediately by people, ‘When are those no taxes on tips? When does that start?’ So, I mean, people are tracking it, but they’re tracking what’s for them.»

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And Sen. Tommy Tubberville, R-Ala., charged that Democrats had «zero credibility» when it came to bashing the GOP for cuts and reforms.

«We got a lot of time,» he told Fox News Digital. «There will be a lot of water underneath the bridge. You won’t hear about the ‘big, beautiful bill’ here in another year because there’s going to be a couple more big, beautiful bills.»

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NATO member scrambles jets after Russian drone attack near border, as Witkoff meets with Putin

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Romania was forced to scramble F-16 jets after Russia carried out a strike just half a mile from the NATO nation’s territory.

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The country’s Ministry of National Defense (MApN) confirmed in a post on X that Russia carried out a drone attack near its border.

«On the night of August 5-6, the Russian forces launched a massive drone attack on the civilian infrastructure in the Ismail area, Ukraine, in the vicinity of the border with Romania,» Romania’s defense ministry wrote in a post on X.

«The radar systems of the MApN detected air targets in Ukrainian space, close to Tulcea County. At 1:10a.m., the population in the north of the county was warned via RO-Alert,» the ministry added. RO-Alert is Romania’s official emergency warning system.

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Flames and plumes of smoke in Ukraine seen from Romania as Russia continues the war.  (East2West news)

NATO JETS SCRAMBLED AMID RUSSIA’S LARGEST DRONE ATTACK ON UKRAINE

The defense ministry stated that two F-16 fighter jets took off «to monitor the national airspace,» but no «unauthorized intrusions» were detected. The ministry said it would carry out checks in the area and keep NATO allies updated in real time.

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The drones reportedly struck oil and gas pipelines at the Orlivka plant in Odesa, Ukraine. Bright orange flames and plumes of smoke were visible across the Danube River.

Nearby Lithuania has also suffered from Russia’s war on Ukraine. Drones from Putin ally Belarus crossed into its territory, according to Lithuanian Minister of Foreign Affairs Kęstutis Budrys, who said he spoke with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.

«These repeated incidents represent an alarming sign of the spillover of Russia’s aggression against [Ukraine] onto [NATO territory],» Budrys said of the incident. «We cannot compromise the security of our country and citizens, nor the integrity of NATO airspace. We must remain vigilant, as the threat is real and growing.»

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Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff shake hands

Russian President Vladimir Putin welcomes U.S. President Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff during a meeting in Moscow, Russia Aug. 6, 2025.  (Sputnik/Gavriil Grigorov/Pool via Reuters)

RUSSIA LAUNCHED ITS LARGEST AERIAL ATTACK OF THE WAR, UKRAINE SAYS

This attack could signal that Russian President Vladimir Putin is not moving closer to reaching a ceasefire deal, despite President Donald Trump’s Friday deadline. It’s unclear whether Special Envoy Steve Witkoff’s visit will push the Russian leader to move toward peace. However, if Moscow fails to make a deal by Friday, the U.S. will impose sanctions on Russia and potentially secondary tariffs.

Trump is reportedly putting pressure on Witkoff’s visit. One person close to the administration told the Financial Times that «if Witkoff comes back empty-handed, with absolutely nothing, Trump is going to go ballistic.»

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President Donald Trump sits with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte

President Donald Trump meets with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte at the NATO summit in The Hague, Netherlands, June 25, 2025.  (REUTERS/Brian Snyder)

Witkoff reportedly spent about three hours at the Kremlin and, according to Russian investment envoy Kirill Dmitriev, the «dialogue will prevail,» Reuters reported.

TRUMP CONFIRMS NUCLEAR SUBMARINES «IN THE REGION» AHEAD OF WITKOFF’S RUSSIA VISIT

Before setting the deadline, Trump reportedly spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy about securing a deal that would end the brutal war more than three years after Russia’s invasion. Zelenskyy later confirmed the conversation took place, saying that the «key focus» was ending the war.

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«Today, we coordinated our positions – Ukraine and the United States. We exchanged assessments of the situation: The Russians have intensified the brutality of their attacks. President Trump is fully informed about Russian strikes on Kyiv and other cities and communities,» Zelenskyy wrote on X.

East2West News contributed to this report.

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