US vice president JD Vance has accused Russia of ‘asking for too much’ to end its invasion of Ukraine, just days after Washington said it would no longer mediate peace talks.
Speaking to Munich Leaders Meeting in Washington DC, he said: ‘The Russians are asking for a certain set of requirements, a certain set of concessions in order to end the conflict. We think they’re asking for too much.’
Vance added that the next step Ukraine and Russia ought to take is to agree to formally talk to each other.
‘We would like both the Russians and the Ukrainians to actually agree on some basic guidelines for sitting down and talking to one another’, he said.
Late last week, Washington said it will no longer mediate peace negotiations between Ukraine and Russia after despot Vladimir Putin refused to sign a ceasefire deal.
State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said that the US will be changing ‘the methodology of how we contribute… in that we will not be the mediators.’
‘But we are not going to fly around the world at the drop of a hat to mediate meetings, that it is now between the two parties,’ the former Fox News host added.
‘Now is the time that they need to present and develop concrete ideas about how this conflict is going to end. It’s going to be up to them.’
US vice president JD Vance (pictured) has accused Russia of ‘asking for too much’ to end its invasion of Ukraine
Russian President Vladimir Putin (pictured) attends a meeting with Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov in Moscow, Russia, May 7, 2025
An explosion of a drone is seen during a Russian drone strike, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine May 7, 2025
A Ukrainian tank passes by a burning car near the Russian-Ukrainian border in the Sumy region of Ukraine, Aug. 14, 2024
The day before the bombshell announcement, Trump approved his administration’s first arms export to Kyiv.
He informed Congress that he would approve exporting at least $50million (£38million) in arms to Ukraine.
This was the first time the president has approved an export deal since taking office in January, and came just a few weeks after the US put all military aid being sent to Ukraine under review.
It comes as attacks by Ukrainian long-range drones caused flight disruption at Moscow’s main airports for a third consecutive day on Wednesday, the authorities said.
The attacks come as Russia prepares to receive the Chinese president and other foreign leaders for the annual Victory Day military parade in Red Square.
Russian flag carrier Aeroflot cancelled more than 100 flights to and from Moscow, while more than 140 flights were delayed as planes were repeatedly grounded, flight data suggested, because of what officials described as the Ukrainian drone threat and amid heightened security measures around the Victory Day events.
Russian air defences repelled an attack by nine drones close to the country’s capital, Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin said.
Although Ukrainian drones have targeted Moscow in the past, the sustained attacks appeared designed to disrupt preparations for the 80th anniversary celebrations in Moscow marking victory over Nazi Germany in the Second World War – Russia’s biggest secular holiday of the year.
An explosion of a drone is seen during a Russian drone strike, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine May 7, 2025
A view shows an apartment building damaged during a Russian drone strike
Moscow has continued to strike targets in Kyiv and elsewhere in Ukraine as the three-year invasion continues
The repeated assaults could unnerve Russians, who have been told by President Vladimir Putin that the more-than-three-year war with Ukraine is going well, as well as potentially embarrass him in front of his illustrious guests.
Security is expected to be tight at Friday’s centrepiece parade. Foreign dignitaries, including Chinese president Xi Jinping and Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, were due to arrive on Wednesday.
Russia plans a unilateral 72-hour ceasefire to coincide with the celebrations in Moscow. In March, the United States proposed a 30-day truce in the war, which Ukraine accepted, but the Kremlin has held out for ceasefire terms more to its liking.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said last weekend that his country could not provide security assurances to foreign officials planning to visit the Moscow events. Russia could stage provocations and later attempt to blame Ukraine, he said.
‘Our position is very simple: we cannot take responsibility for what happens on the territory of the Russian Federation,’ he said.
‘They are the ones providing your security, and we will not be offering any guarantees.’
Attacks by Ukrainian long-range drones caused flight disruption at Moscow’s main airports for a third consecutive day on Wednesday, the authorities said.
The attacks come as Russia prepares to receive the Chinese president and other foreign leaders for the annual Victory Day military parade in Red Square.
A photo shared by the Russian Defence Ministry purports to show abandoned Ukrainian ammunition in the Kursk region of Russia, in March 2025
A serviceman of Special Police Battalion attaches a mine to a Vampire combat drone before flying over positions of Russian troops, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine April 29, 2025
Russian servicemen walking along at an area in the Kursk region, Russia, 14 March
Russian flag carrier Aeroflot cancelled more than 100 flights to and from Moscow, while more than 140 flights were delayed as planes were repeatedly grounded, flight data suggested, because of what officials described as the Ukrainian drone threat and amid heightened security measures around the Victory Day events.
Russian air defences repelled an attack by nine drones close to the country’s capital, Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin said.
Although Ukrainian drones have targeted Moscow in the past, the sustained attacks appeared designed to disrupt preparations for the 80th anniversary celebrations in Moscow marking victory over Nazi Germany in the Second World War – Russia’s biggest secular holiday of the year.
The repeated assaults could unnerve Russians, who have been told by President Vladimir Putin that the more-than-three-year war with Ukraine is going well, as well as potentially embarrass him in front of his illustrious guests.
Security is expected to be tight at Friday’s centrepiece parade. Foreign dignitaries, including Chinese president Xi Jinping and Brazilian
president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, were due to arrive on Wednesday.
Russia plans a unilateral 72-hour ceasefire to coincide with the celebrations in Moscow. In March, the United States proposed a 30-day truce in the war, which Ukraine accepted, but the Kremlin has held out for ceasefire terms more to its liking.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said last weekend that his country could not provide security assurances to foreign officials planning to visit the Moscow events. Russia could stage provocations and later attempt to blame Ukraine, he said.
‘Our position is very simple: we cannot take responsibility for what happens on the territory of the Russian Federation,’ he said.
‘They are the ones providing your security, and we will not be offering any guarantees.’
