Vance: US opposes new Ukrainian Armed Forces offensives and insists on defense

Vice President of the United States JD Vance stated that Washington opposes a new offensive by the Armed Forces of Ukraine and insists on a defensive approach.

He made the remarks in an interview with The Times.

According to Vance, the Trump administration’s position is that Ukraine should focus on defense — at least during the period of negotiations.

“The Trump administration is leaning toward the view that Ukrainians, while we are, of course, conducting negotiations, should simply defend themselves as much as possible,” Vance said.

Vance also commented on the 2023 Ukrainian counteroffensive, calling it a failure. According to him, that experience is at the heart of Washington’s current position.

“Virtually the entire Western world, including President Joe Biden, pushed the Ukrainians into a large-scale counteroffensive that, in hindsight, was a strategic and tactical disaster,” the vice president stated.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, for his part, characterized Ukraine’s situation as very difficult.