The ongoing Russia-Ukraine war is raging on despite months of negotiation because neither side is willing to reach a peace agreement, Vice President JD Vance said in a Newsmax interview on Thursday.
"As much as energetic diplomacy from the president of the United States can get people to the one-yard line, eventually you have to have the two parties who are willing to cut a deal," the vice president told Newsmax's Greta Van Susteren, host of "The Record With Greta Van Susteren."
"And right now, for all of our work, and we're going to keep on working at it, the Russians and the Ukrainians are just not at the point where they can make a deal," he said.
However, Vance said he thinks a settlement is still possible, but it will take "a lot more work" to get to that point.
"I think there's a fundamental misalignment of expectations, where the Russians tend to think that they're doing better on the battlefield than they actually are," he said.
And that has made it harder to reach an agreement in the past few months, Vance said, even though there has been progress.
Vance credited President Donald Trump's foreign policy approach for moving negotiations further than they had been under previous administrations.
"You know, I think that the thing that actually works in both cases is the Trump approach to diplomacy, which is energetic, that empowers his people on the ground, that actually encourages them to get a deal done and is willing to explore some unconventional means in order to get the deal done," he said.
Vance pointed out that there has been progress in the war that wouldn't have happened without Trump.
"It turned out, as the president said, I think it surprised all of us, including the president, that this is a particularly tough nut to crack," he said.
Turning to the use of economic tools, Vance said the administration has found tariffs to be more effective than sanctions in influencing Russian behavior.
"You have to separate sanctions from tariffs," he said.
"Tariffs have been quite effective as a negotiating tool with the Russians," Vance continued, "But sanctions have been tried for decades in this particular region of the world and all over the world, and I don't think they actually work particularly well."
In some cases, sanctions can cause a great deal of damage to the United States economy, while not delivering a desired result, the vice president told Van Susteren.
"The president has been very deliberate," he continued. "He hasn't, you know, he doesn't just apply blanket sanctions."
Vance said Trump has also worked directly with major trading nations to curb Russia's energy revenues.
"With the Russian case in particular, of course, a main driver of their economy is the oil that they sell to India and China," he said.
"So he's been working with both India and China to try to cut down on those oil sales, and again, in order to apply some pressure to the parties in the region to get peace," said Vance, adding that Trump will "keep on aggressively working on it."
He acknowledged that the process has tested the patience of members of the administration, including himself and Trump.
"Yes, it's frustrating sometimes," said Vance. "Yes, [Trump] gets impatient with everybody involved sometimes."
Still, "so long as he keeps working on it, I think the president has great confidence he can strike a deal," said Vance.
"I think that he will. It's just a question of how long it's going to take."
GET TODAY NEWSMAX+:
NEWSMAX is the fastest-growing cable news channel in America with more than 30 million people watching!
Reuters Institute reports NEWSMAX is one of the top news brands in the U.S.
You need to watch NEWSMAX today.
Get it with great shows from Rob Schmitt, Greta Van Susteren, Greg Kelly, Carl Higbie, Rob Finnerty – and many more!
Find the NEWSMAX channel on your cable system – Go Here Now
BEST OFFER:
Sign up for NEWSMAX+ and get NEWSMAX, our streaming channel NEWSMAX2 and our military channel World at War.
Find hundreds of shows, movies and specials.
Even get Jon Voight's special series and President Trump's comedy programs and much more!
Watch NEWSMAX+ on your smartphone or home TV app.
Watch NEWSMAX anytime, anywhere!
Start your FREE trial now: NewsmaxPlus.com
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.