US VP Vance threatens sanctions, military action to push Putin into Ukraine deal

14/2/2025 15:12

U.S. Vice President JD Vance said the U.S. could hit Moscow with sanctions and potential military action if Russian President Vladimir Putin does not agree to a peace deal with Ukraine that guarantees Kyiv's long-term independence, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday.



"There are economic tools of leverage, there are of course military tools of leverage" the U.S. could use against Putin, Vance said in an interview with the newspaper.



"There are any number of formulations, of configurations, but we do care about Ukraine having sovereign independence,” he said.



U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday discussed the war with Russian President Vladimir Putin and separately with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, and told U.S. officials to begin talks on ending the nearly three-year-long conflict.



The phone calls came shortly after U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told Ukraine's military allies in Brussels that a return to Ukraine's pre-2014 borders - before Russia annexed Crimea - was unrealistic and that the U.S. does not see NATO membership for Kyiv as part of a solution.