Washington, DC
CNN
 — 

Vice President JD Vance said Wednesday that the Russians are “asking for too much” in requirements to end the war with Ukraine and that he believes it’s time the two sides come together in “direct negotiation.”

“I wouldn’t say that the Russians are uninterested in bringing this thing to a resolution. What I would say is, right now, the Russians are asking for a certain set of requirements, a certain set of concessions in order to end the conflict. We think they’re asking for too much,” Vance said during a Q&A session at the Munich Leaders Meeting in Washington, DC — his second time in recent months addressing the group after a blistering speech in Germany in which he criticized European allies.

Asked about Vance’s comments on Russia later Wednesday, President Donald Trump appeared unaware of them, but said, “Well, it’s possible that’s right. He may know some things that, uh – because I’ve been dealing with this and some other things.”

The president went on to reiterate the administration’s warning that there isn’t indefinite tolerance for negotiations that do not make progress as he grows frustrated at his inability to end the war.

“We are getting to a point where some decisions are going to have to be made. I’m not happy about it,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. “I’m not happy about it.”

During his remarks, Vance said the Trump administration had moved beyond the US-proposed 30-day ceasefire that Ukraine had accepted, noting that Russia had said it “is not in our strategic interest.”

“What the Russians have said – again, you don’t have to agree with it, but it’s important to understand where the other side is coming from – what the Russians have said, is a 30-day ceasefire is not in our strategic interest,” Vance said. “We’ve tried to move beyond the obsession with the 30-day ceasefire and more on the, what would the long-term settlement look like, and we’ve tried to consistently advance the ball.”

The next step, Vance stressed, is getting Russia and Ukraine to talk directly to each other.

“We would like both the Russians and the Ukrainians to actually agree on some basic guidelines for sitting down and talking to one another,” Vance said. “Obviously, the United States is happy to participate in those conversations, but it’s very important for the Russians and the Ukrainians to start talking to one another. We think that is the next big step that we would like to take.”

He added: “We think it’s probably impossible for us to mediate this entirely without at least some direct negotiation between the two.”

Vance emphasized that he’s “not yet a pessimist” on the chances of the conflict ending and called Trump a “genuine humanitarian” for wanting to see the fighting end.

“Our strong view is that the continuation of this conflict is bad for us. It’s bad for Europe, it’s bad for Russia and it’s bad for Ukraine. We think that if cool heads prevail here, we can bring this thing to a durable peace that will be economically beneficial for both Ukrainians and the Russians, and most importantly, will stop the end of the of the destruction of human lives,” Vance added.

In an interview a day earlier, the Trump administration’s envoy to Ukraine and Russia called President Vladimir Putin’s refusal to agree to the 30-day truce the main “impediment” to progress on peace talks and said Ukraine is willing to create a demilitarized zone inside its territory as part of a potential ceasefire agreement.

“Our impediment to progress is the president of Russia right now not agreeing to (the 30-day ceasefire),” Keith Kellogg told Fox News, adding that it was in the Kremlin leader’s interest to agree to the ceasefire because “the Russians are not winning this war.”

Kyiv has previously said it would be willing to freeze the conflict along the current lines of contact as part of a ceasefire — but has not given any concrete public proposals on a demilitarized zone. CNN has reached out to the Ukrainian government for comment.

Putin has proposed a three-day ceasefire around the celebrations of the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War. But Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has rejected that offer and reiterated his support for the 30-day truce.

Vance says US and Europe on ‘the same team’

Vance’s appearance Wednesday came months after giving a fiery speech in Germany where he accused European leaders of turning from shared values, such as free speech, and downplayed threats from Russia.

While that speech was not a focus of Wednesday’s meeting, it did not go unmentioned.

Off the top, Wolfgang Ischinger — the former chairman of the conference and now president of the MSC Foundation Council — held up a brochure the group published about Vance’s remarks and reaction to it from across the world, which he said “kicked off a controversial debate about fundamental values unlike anything we have ever had at the Munich Security Conference.”

Vance struck a more conciliatory tone, saying that Europe and the US are “on the same team.”

“I think that European civilization and American civilization, European culture and American culture, are very much linked, and they’re always going to be linked,” Vance said. “And I think it’s, it’s completely ridiculous to think that you’re ever going to be able to drive a firm wedge between the United States and Europe.”

Reiterating his and Trump’s view that the Europeans need to boost their own defense spending, Vance said conversations about security posture and other “big questions” should be rethought together.

In closing remarks after the Q&A, Vance joked about the controversy surrounding his previous speech, appearing to smooth things over.

“I appreciate the kind words, and I appreciate the invitation back. I wasn’t sure after February whether I’d get the invitation back,” he said.

Ischinger chimed in, “Well, we thought about it…”

Ivana Kottasová, Kostya Gak and Victoria Butenko contributed to this report.

CNN
 — 

A three-day ceasefire in Ukraine that was unilaterally declared by Russian President Vladimir Putin last month has come into effect, as Russia prepares to mark the anniversary of its World War II Victory Day on Friday.

Russian state media agency Tass said the ceasefire began at midnight local time on Wednesday (5 p.m. ET Wednesday).

Within three hours, Ukraine’s air force had claimed Russia had launched guided bombs over Sumy in the north of Ukraine, the Reuters news agency reported, adding that it could not independently verify the claims.

A statement from the Kremlin last month said that Putin ordered “all military actions” in Ukraine to be suspended from midnight May 8 to midnight May 11 based on “humanitarian considerations.”

Kyiv rejected the short-term truce when it was first announced. Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky called Putin’s announcement a “theatrical performance” and reiterated his country’s support for an earlier US proposal for a 30-day ceasefire which Russia has rejected.

The three-day period Putin picked for the ceasefire coincides with Russia’s World War II Victory Day commemorations, including a traditional military parade set for Friday, May 9.

The high-profile event is expected to be attended by the leaders of several countries that are friendly with Russia, including China’s Xi Jinping.

As in previous years, it is expected to be used by Putin and his government to peddle propaganda, which falsely frames Moscow’s current aggression against Ukraine as a fight against a “Nazi” regime in Kyiv.

As Russia prepares to mark the anniversary of the end of WWII, Ukrainian drones attacked Moscow for the second consecutive night overnight into Wednesday.

The attacks forced Russian authorities to temporarily halt air traffic at 13 airports – four in Moscow and nine further afield.

More drones were flying on Wednesday, with the Moscow mayor Sergey Sobyanin saying one drone that was heading to Moscow was shot down on Wednesday afternoon.

The shutting down of airports was potentially embarrassing for Moscow, as delegations from countries that have remained friendly to Russia were flying in to attend the parade on Friday.

Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Vietnam’s President To Lam and Belarussian leader Alexander Lukashenko are among the 29 leaders on the guestlist, according to Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov.

Ukraine has previously said it “cannot be responsible for what happens on the territory of the Russian Federation” because of the war.

Zelensky said his country would not be “playing games to create a pleasant atmosphere to allow for Putin’s exit from isolation on May 9.”

While Russia has rejected the US ceasefire proposal, the unilateral ceasefire around the Victory Day celebration was the second short-term truce Putin announced in less than a month.

In a surprise move over Easter, the Russia leader announced he instructed his troops to stop all military activity for some 30 hours. Ukraine accused Russia of breaching the truce, although it did say that fighting had slowed along some parts of the front lines.

CNN
 — 

President Donald Trump teased a significant trade announcement to be announced Thursday — a source familiar with the administration’s plans tells CNN the deal will be with the United Kingdom.

It’s yet another sign of some possible relief from historically high tariffs that have threatened serious damage to the US and global economies.

“Big News Conference tomorrow morning at 10:00 A.M., The Oval Office, concerning a MAJOR TRADE DEAL WITH REPRESENTATIVES OF A BIG, AND HIGHLY RESPECTED, COUNTRY. THE FIRST OF MANY!!!” Trump posted Wednesday night on Truth Social.

In his post, Trump didn’t specify which country, but his administration has suggested it is in active negotiations with India, the United Kingdom, South Korea and Japan. Trump’s top trade adviser, Peter Navarro, told CNN Tuesday that he suspected the UK may be the first country to sign a trade agreement with the United States.

“I don’t know if it’s going to be the UK first or India first, it’s — we’ve got a little twist in the in this India story, so that might slow things down there, but I can assure the American people that there will be deals, and they will be very good deals for the American people,” Navarro said.

The Financial Times on Tuesday reported that a UK trade deal could be signed this week and could exempt the United States from some non-tariff trade barriers, including the UK’s 2% digital services tax charged to US technology companies. In exchange, the United States may ease the tariff burden on the UK, perhaps reducing or exempting the country from 25% tariffs on aluminum, steel and autos, the FT reported.

For weeks, Trump officials have said they are talking to more than a dozen countries and are nearing a deal, but none have been announced so far. Trump has frequently said he is in no rush to sign a deal, claiming that countries have been “ripping off” America for years and the high tariffs the United States has imposed will help balance trade.

Despite the administration’s rhetoric that it is in advanced trade negotiations with more than a dozen countries, actual trade deals take significant time, often years, to hash out. They typically involve incredibly complex agreements, delving into the minutiae of various goods and non-tariff barriers. They often involve significant political considerations, as various parties seek to protect voters with special interests.

Instead, the “deal” Trump teased is more likely a memorandum of understanding. That may result in lower tariffs on one particular country’s goods in the near term, but they’ll do little that amounts to a substantial economic win for quite some time.

And this is just a single agreement. The “reciprocal” tariffs that went into effect April 7 and were paused for 90 days on April 9 affect dozens of countries. A hundred or so more are subject to the 10% universal tariff. The administration can’t possibly get those all done by July 8.

“The 90-day tariff pause, which is now roughly 25% over, provides little time for the typical back-and-forth trade discussions that require months if not years to craft a trade deal,” said Jacob Jensen, trade policy analyst for the American Action Forum, a center-right policy institute.

“There is a significant difference if these deals are official, written trade agreements rather than verbal commitments to buy more US products, as one has long-term economic implications and the other can be ignored down the line,” he added.

Trump said last month he would not extend the tariffs a second time — and, in fact, may act sooner to reinstate some tariffs with countries with whom his administration cannot reach an agreement, perhaps in a matter of a couple weeks.

“It will be difficult for the US trade representative to negotiate potentially 100 separate trade agreements within 90 days, meaning President Trump must soon determine whether tariffs will be reinstated or delayed further,” Jensen said.

And even if deals are ultimately completed with all countries, there’s no guarantee Trump would keep them. For example, Trump, in his first term, was instrumental in negotiating the USMCA free trade agreement with Canada and Mexico, only to abandon it in his second term, charging an on-again, off-again 25% tariff on some Mexican and Canadian goods. And by placing significant tariffs on virtually all goods coming into the United States, Trump also blew up a number of existing trade deals with allies.

Trump’s announcement of a trade deal is the second significant sign this week that the administration may be open to negotiations that would ultimately lower some tariffs on foreign nations.

On Tuesday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that he and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer will both travel to Geneva, Switzerland, where they will meet their Chinese counterparts.

Although Bessent told Fox News not to expect a major trade deal from the meetings, he acknowledged it was an important step in negotiations and could de-escalate tensions that have led the United States to place at least a 145% tariff on most Chinese goods. In turn, China has placed a 125% tariff on US goods.

Trump, however, on Wednesday said he would not lower the high tariffs on China in advance of discussions, which Beijing has previously said was a pre-condition for talks.

When asked in the Oval Office whether he was open to pulling back the historically high tariffs to get China to the negotiating table, Trump replied simply with: “No.”

Nevertheless, any thaw in the trade war could be a welcome sign for businesses and consumers in both countries and around the globe.

The punishing tariffs have already damaged economies around the world — particularly America’s. The US economy went into reverse in the first quarter, its first contraction in three years, as businesses stockpiled goods in anticipation of Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs, which began in the second quarter.

Although the China-US trade standoff is by far the most aggressive, Trump has imposed large tariffs on most other countries around the world too: a 10% universal tariff on virtually all goods entering the United States, plus 25% tariffs on steel, aluminum, autos, auto parts and some goods from Mexico and Canada.

So the world will be watching Thursday’s announcement and the US-China talks this weekend with anticipation.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Wednesday said at a press conference that tariffs could do serious damage to America’s economy. But he said the trade talks the United States is holding with foreign countries could prevent the worst-case scenario.

Global economists at the International Monetary Fund, OECD and World Bank have all predicted that Trump’s trade war would have disastrous effects on the global economy, slowing growth dramatically in some countries, while reigniting inflation. Many US economists and large banks predict the United States could enter a recession this year.

This story has been updated with additional developments and context.