Vance threatens sanctions and military action to push Putin into Ukraine deal

US Vice President JD Vance said the US could hit Moscow with sanctions and potential military action if Russian President Vladimir Putin does not agree to a peace deal with Ukraine that guarantees Kyiv's long-term independence, according to The Wall Street Journal.

"There are economic tools of leverage, there are of course military tools of leverage" the US could use against Putin, Vance said in an interview with the newspaper.

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday discussed the war with Russian President Vladimir Putin and separately with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and told US officials to begin talks on ending the nearly three-year-long conflict.

The phone calls came shortly after US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told Ukraine's military allies in Brussels that a return to Ukraine's pre-2014 borders — before Russia annexed Crimea — was unrealistic and that the US does not see NATO membership for Kyiv as part of a solution.