Ukraine-Russia war latest: JD Vance says war not ending ‘any time soon’ despite historic minerals deal

There would need to be a real breakthrough on the war in Ukraine very soon or US president Donald Trump is going to have to decide how much more time to dedicate to the matter, US secretary of state Marco Rubio told Fox News last night.

“I think we know where Ukraine is, and we know where Russia is right now… They’re closer, but they’re still far apart,” he added during an interview on Fox News’ Hannity show.

Dmitri Medvedev, the former president, said the deal means Ukraine “will have to pay for military supplies with the national wealth of a disappearing country”. It does not.

The US-Ukraine mineral deal is good for both countries and the first sign that Mr Trump may turn away from Mr Putin, world affairs editor Sam Kiley writes:

Volodymyr Zelensky has hailed the Ukraine and US minerals deal as a “truly equal partnership” which will create “substantial investment” in his country.

In a new video address, released yesterday, president Zelensky thanked Donald Trump for the deal.

The “Art of the Deal” may have been Donald Trump’s abiding contribution to literature, but it is Mr Zelensky, it now seems, who used his personal diplomacy with the US president during the funeral for Pope Francis to excellent effect. Free of the barracking and malign influence of vice-president JD Vance – and away from the Russian-inspired propaganda relayed by some of his advisers – Mr Trump was able to listen to his Ukrainian counterpart’s case directly.

The deal, as now signed and published, is far superior to earlier versions – not just for Ukraine, but also for the United States. The initial versions were grotesquely exploitative, reducing Ukraine to a vassal state – and so impoverishing and weakening the country that it rendered the agreement unsustainable.

The war in Ukraine is not going to end “any time soon,” US vice president JD Vance told Fox News last night.

It is “going to be up to the Russians and Ukrainians now that each side knows what the other’s terms for peace are. It’s going to be up to them to come to an agreement and stop this brutal, brutal conflict,” Mr Vance said in the interview on Fox News’ “Special Report with Bret Baier” show.

“It’s not going anywhere, Bret. It’s not going to end any time soon,” Mr Vance added.