US vice president says it's 'very important' for Russia, Ukraine to have direct talks

US Vice President JD Vance said Wednesday that Russia and Ukraine need to have direct talks to end the ongoing war, adding "they are not there yet."

"The step that we would like may make right now is we would like both the Russians and Ukrainians to actually agree on some basic guidelines for sitting down and talking to one another.

"Obviously, the United States is happy to participate in those conversations, but it's very important for the Russians and the Ukrainians to start talking to one another. We think that is the next big step that we would like to take," Vance said at the 2025 Munich Leaders Meeting in Washington, DC.

He said the Russians are asking for a certain set of concessions to end the conflict. "We think they're asking for too much," he added.

"There's a big gulf, predictably, between where the Russians and the Ukrainians are, and we think the next step in negotiation is to try to close that gulf. We think it's probably impossible for us to mediate this entirely without at least some direct negotiation between the two," Vance said.

The vice president added that he is not yet "pessimist" about the chances of ending the war.

"I mean, obviously, you know, the Russians and the Ukrainians are not there yet, because the fighting is still going on," he said.