Vice President Vance on Monday questioned whether Russian President Vladimir Putin has a strategy to get out of the war in Ukraine ahead of a call between Putin and President Trump.
“I’m not sure that Vladimir Putin has a strategy himself for how to unwind the war,” Vance told reporters on Air Force Two.
The vice president’s comments came shortly before Trump got on the phone with Putin for a high stakes call as the administration seeks to broker a ceasefire in Ukraine. Trump is also slated to talk Monday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
“I think the president’s going to say to President Putin, look, are you serious? Are you real about this?” Vance told reporters.
“We’re at a point where we’re hitting an impasse and that’s why the president is talking to him on the phone,” he added. “I think honestly that President Putin, he doesn’t quite know how to get out of the war.”
Russian forces invaded Ukraine in February 2022 after amassing troops near the border.
The Trump administration has in recent weeks aired frustrations with both sides of the war after consensus on a 30-day ceasefire proposal was not reached. The secretary of State and vice president have threatened to walk away from peace talks if a deal isn’t reached soon.
Officials from Ukraine and Russia met Friday in Turkey for the first direct peace talks since Russia’s invasion, though Putin did not attend.
