Updated Mar 4, 2025 - Business

Vance says U.S. "economic upside" in Ukraine is best for Kyiv

Rebecca Falconer

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky sits with his arms folded while President Trump and Vice President JD Vance gesture during their heated meeting in the Oval Office at the White House on February 28. — Left to right: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, President Trump and Vice President JD Vance during their heated meeting in the Oval Office at the White House on Feb. 28. Photo: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

Vice President JD Vance said Monday the Trump administration is working with Russia to end its war on Ukraine and that the "door is open" for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky if he's "willing to seriously talk peace."

Why it matters: In his first interview since Friday's heated White House exchange that Vance and President Trump had with Zelensky, the vice president on Fox News criticized Ukraine's leader and argued that it's in Kyiv's best interests to sign a minerals deal with the U.S.

Driving the news: "If you want real security guarantees, if you want to actually ensure that [Russian leader] Vladimir Putin does not invade Ukraine again, the very best security guarantee is to give Americans economic upside in the future of Ukraine," Vance said on Fox News' "Hannity."

"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."

Zoom in: During the interview, Vance told Fox News host Sean Hannity that Zelensky had "showed a clear unwillingness to engage in the peace process" that Trump has said is "the policy of the American people and of their president."

He accused Zelensky of showing "a certain sense of entitlement" at the Oval Office.

Zoom out: Zelensky said on X Sunday he's "ready to sign" a minerals deal with the the U.S., but a "ceasefire without security guarantees is dangerous for Ukraine."

The Ukrainian president has said security guarantees are needed due to Moscow's breach of a ceasefire agreement after its annexation of Crimea in eastern Ukraine in 2014.
Meanwhile, officials in the U.S. and France are working on a plan for a European peacekeeping force, an idea that Axios' Barak Ravid reports Trump has endorsed.

Editor's note: This article has been updated with additional details throughout.

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Vance says U.S. "economic upside" in Ukraine is best for Kyiv

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