US Vice President J.D. Vance has defended the Donald Trump administration's emerging peace framework to end the war between Russia and Ukraine.
He noted that critics misunderstand the proposal and the realities on the ground.
"Any peace plan between Ukraine and Russia must: 1) Stop the killing while preserving Ukrainian sovereignty. 2) Be acceptable to both Russia and Ukraine. 3) Maximize the chances that the war will not resume," Vance wrote on the American social network X.
Trump administration officials presented a 28-point proposal to end the conflict - a plan that would require Kiev to cede control of Crimea and the eastern Donbas region, as well as to permanently abandon its bid to join NATO.
Vance said the administration's approach was based on pragmatic diplomacy, not unrealistic expectations from hardliners.
"Any criticism of the peace framework that the administration is working on either misunderstands the framework or distorts some critical reality on the ground," he pointed out.
"There is an illusion that if we just give more money, more weapons or more sanctions, victory is near," Vance added.
In his words, peace "will not "It shouldn't be achieved by failed diplomats or politicians living in a fantasy country," but by "smart people living in the real world."
Yesterday, President Donald Trump said that he thought next Thursday, November 27, was a "convenient" deadline for Ukraine to accept the plan.
"They're going to have to like it, and if they don't like it, then they're just going to have to keep fighting, I guess," he said, referring to Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky, who spoke to Vance about the plan on Tuesday.
Zelensky stressed that Kiev was in close coordination with its partners to ensure that its main positions were reflected in the negotiations.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, meanwhile, indicated that the US plan "could be used as a basis" to settle the war in Ukraine and that Moscow remains satisfied with the offensive on the battlefield but is open to negotiations.