Vance says Trump’s plan to end war in Ukraine could include creating demilitarized zone

Republican vice-presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance (Ohio) recently laid out a potential Trump administration’s approach to end Russia’s war in Ukraine, saying former president Donald Trump’s handling of the conflict could include establishing a “demilitarized zone” in Ukrainian territory now occupied by Russia.

The approach would mark a dramatic change from the Biden administration’s policy — which is focused on providing military and other assistance, along with Europe and other allies — to help Ukraine repel and reverse Russian aggression.

“I think what this looks like is Trump sits down, he says to the Russians, the Ukrainians, the Europeans: You guys need to figure out. What does a peaceful settlement look like? And what it probably looks like is the current line of demarcation between Russia and Ukraine, that becomes like a demilitarized zone,” Vance said Wednesday on “The Shawn Ryan Show.”

The proposed demilitarized zone, Vance added, would be “heavily fortified so the Russians don’t invade again.” As part of the peace plan, Vance said, Ukraine would maintain its independence in exchange for a guarantee of neutrality — meaning Ukraine wouldn’t join NATO or other “allied institutions.”

Vance’s comments are the most explicit and recent plan for the war proposed to date by the Republican ticket.

Trump has claimed that if elected, he would end the war. This week, during the presidential debate against Vice President Kamala Harris, he said that if elected in November, he would “get it done before even becoming president.” However, he’s stopped short of explicitly laying out his plan, suggesting that publicizing his strategy would weaken his hand in negotiations.

“I have a very exacting plan on how to stop Ukraine and Russia. And I have a certain idea, maybe not a plan, but an idea for China,” Trump said last week in a podcast interview with Lex Fridman, later adding, “But I can’t give you those plans because if I give you those plans, I’m not going to be able to use them. They’ll be unsuccessful. Part of it’s surprise.”

Vance, in his interview with Ryan, said it was “fake” and “wrong” to consider the conflict “the great humanitarian mission of our time,” adding that it’s a “fairy-tale mindset” to consider the war a battle between “good versus evil.” During the interview, he also said that Russia “should not have invaded” Ukraine, but that “Ukrainians have got a lot of corruption problems, too.”

Since launching an invasion in February 2022, Russia now controls roughly 20 percent of Ukraine’s territory — including Crimea, which it illegally annexed in 2014 along with parts of the eastern Donbas region — and significant additional area stretching from north to south in the east.

Although some Republican lawmakers are among the strongest supporters of Ukraine, others have been increasingly reluctant to continue providing federal funding toward the war, arguing that the money is better spent on domestic issues such as securing the southern U.S. border.

Individuals who have discussed Trump’s proposal to resolve the conflict, speaking on the condition of anonymity to describe private conversations, had told The Washington Post in April that his plan consisted of pushing Ukraine to cede Crimea and the Donbas border region to Russia.

“There’s a lot of risks to us staying there and trying to encourage the Ukrainians to hold onto Crimea. The question is: How many American lives would it cost to do that? And if the answer is more than zero, then I’m out,” said Vance, a Marine veteran. Although the U.S. military has trained Ukrainian forces in parts of Europe, there have been no U.S. troops in Ukraine since Russia’s 2022 invasion and Biden has pledged there will not be.

Responding to Vance’s recent comments, the Harris campaign pointed to the vice president’s speech in June at a peace summit.

Harris referenced Russian President Vladimir Putin’s cease-fire proposal put forward that month, which would require Ukraine withdraw troops from four Russian-occupied territories, the West lift sanctions imposed on Russia and Ukraine drop its bid for NATO membership. In her speech, Harris said Putin was “not calling for negotiations. He is calling for surrender.”

Vance also said Europe has “underfunded this war while American taxpayers have been very generous,” a charge often made by Trump, who falsely said in Tuesday’s debate that the United States had spent $250-$275 billion on Ukraine — more than twice as much as Europe.

As of June 30, European nations with far smaller economies had collectively spent and allocated considerably more than the United States, according to the Kiel Institute for the World Economy. As a percentage of its economy, the United States ranks lower than 21 other countries, according to the institute.

Vance continued to argue that the Biden administration’s policy is to “throw money at this problem [and] hope the Ukrainians are able to achieve a military victory that even the Ukrainians are saying [they] can’t achieve,” Vance added. “Donald Trump’s policy is yes, be strong, but also be smart. Negotiate.”

A number of Trump advisers have outlined similar plans, including one published during the summer by Keith Kellogg and Fred Fleitz — who both served as chiefs of staff in Trump’s National Security Council. Their proposal, which they said had been presented to the former president, also included telling Ukraine it would receive no more U.S. aid if it didn’t agree to a peace he negotiated.

Vance didn’t specify who would control the “demilitarized zone,” but he said the “current line of demarcation” would remain, meaning Ukraine would not reclaim its territory that Russia now occupies. Throughout the war, Ukraine — with backing from both the United States and NATO — has insisted that all of Ukraine’s sovereign territory be returned. NATO has pledged that Ukraine will be part of the alliance and has set it on a path to membership.

A 10-point peace plan presented to the United Nations in September 2022 by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky included a complete Russian withdrawal and restoration to pre-2014 borders, and an international tribunal to prosecute Russian war crimes.

Putin, who claims historical ownership of Ukraine — a part of the former Soviet Union — has said he is willing to negotiate but made clear it must be on his terms. His spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, has said that any peace plan must recognize “the reality on the ground,” and Russian retention of territory it now occupies — crimes for which the International Criminal Court has already issued an arrest warrant for Putin.

Meryl Kornfield contributed to this report.