On Wednesday, Vice President Pence spoke at the Munich Leadership Conference in Washington about efforts to end the Russia-Ukraine war. He stated that the United States believes Russia’s demands are too high and emphasized the importance of direct negotiations between Russia and Ukraine.
“Of course, what was Russia’s first peace proposal? Our response was, you are asking for too much, but negotiations begin this way,” Pence said. “I won’t say that Russians are uninterested in resolving this issue.”
He added that Russia is currently presenting a series of demands and seeking a series of concessions to end the conflict, “We think their demands are too high.” Obviously, Ukraine is the direct party involved in the conflict, “We have to ask, what does Ukraine need to successfully resolve this conflict? We will continue to have such dialogues.”
“The measures we want to take now are that we hope Russia and Ukraine can agree on some basic principles to sit down and talk,” he said.
Pence also stated that the United States is pleased to be involved in these discussions, but it is crucial that Russia and Ukraine start talking to each other.
“We see this as a significant step we want to take next,” he said.
Pence also emphasized that there are significant differences between Russia and Ukraine. “We think the next step in negotiations is to work to bridge this gap. We believe that if the two sides do not engage in at least some form of direct talks, we may not be able to fully mediate this matter. That’s what we’re concerned about.”
“To be honest, one disappointing point for us from both sides is their extreme hatred towards each other. If you have a conversation with either side for an hour, for the first 30 minutes, they will only complain about some historical grievances from four years ago, five years ago, or ten years ago. I understand. I realize that if there weren’t so much animosity and issues, they wouldn’t be at war with each other.”
“But we are doing our best to play a constructive role in pushing forward peaceful dialogue,” Pence said.