Vance says ‘door is open’ for Zelensky if he wants to ‘seriously talk peace’

Vance, appearing for an interview on Fox News, said, "President Trump has said clearly and consistently the door is open—so long as Zelensky is willing to seriously talk peace."

"You can't come into the Oval Office or anywhere else and refuse to even discuss the details of a peace deal," Vance added. "This is not going to make anybody happy. The Russians are going to have to give up stuff, the Ukrainians are going to have to give up stuff. You can't come to the Oval Office and say 'give us security guarantees, we won't even engage with you about what we are willing to give up.' That's been the Ukrainian posture."

He then added about the policy of the Biden administration, "Hope is not a strategy. Throwing money and ammunition at a terrible conflict — that is not a strategy." The United States has provided over $180 billion to assist in the response to Russia's attack, with much of the funding being appropriated to the country during the Biden administration.

During the interview, Vance told the host, referring to Zelensky's desire to have security guarantees from Russia, "If you want real security guarantees, if you want to actually ensure that Vladimir Putin does not invade Ukraine again, the very best security guarantee is to give Americans economic upside in the future of Ukraine."

The comment referred to the raw earth mineral deal that the Trump administration had worked out with Zelensky prior to Friday's meeting. The deal was scheduled to be signed afterwards, but did not end up getting agreed to.

"That is a way better security guarantee than 20,000 troops from some random country that hasn't fought a war in 30 or 40 years," Vance added, later emphasizing that Ukraine is on thin ice with the administration, saying that Zelensky has even lost Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), who has been very supportive of Zelensky and Ukraine.

"My message to Ukrainians, by the way, to President Zelensky is: when you've lost Lindsey Graham, that means you need to come to the negotiating table and recognize Donald Trump is the only game in town," Vance added.