U.S. Vice President JD Vance speaks with U.S. President Donald Trump (left). Yonhap News Agency 

U.S. Vice President JD Vance stated on the 24th (local time) that the U.S. "sanctions against Russia," a pressure tactic to end the war in Ukraine, are still in place.

In an interview with U.S. NBC broadcast aired on the same day, Vance said, "Sanctions have not been taken off the table. However, we will determine on a case-by-case basis what measures can exert appropriate pressure to bring Russia to the negotiating table."

"We cannot control Russia's actions. If we could have controlled them, this war would have ended seven months ago," he said, adding, "But what we believe is that we still have many cards to play. The U.S. President (Donald Trump) has many remaining cards to end this conflict and apply pressure. That is what we will do."

U.S. sanctions against Russia include not only economic sanctions such as high tariffs on Russia but also "secondary sanctions" on countries purchasing Russian oil. The U.S. has already decided to impose additional tariffs of a "secondary sanction" nature on India, which purchases large quantities of Russian oil.

Vance described this as "a method of negotiation. It's about taking action, talking to the parties involved, and seeing if there's an agreement," adding, "We believe there have been some significant concessions from both sides (Russia-Ukraine) in recent weeks."

He also emphasized, "We will either succeed or hit a wall. If we hit a wall, we will continue the negotiation process and continue to apply pressure. This is vibrant diplomacy to end this war."

When asked why there are no sanctions on China, which buys more Russian oil, Vance replied, "We are currently imposing a 54% tariff on China, and we have already imposed significant sanctions on China."

He added, "We are applying aggressive economic pressure to end this war, and we may apply further pressure. If we feel there is progress, we can ease it. Give and take is part of the negotiation that we believe works. We have not reached a final outcome, but we will continue this process as much as possible."

Regarding signals from the Russian side indicating that a Russia-Ukraine summit for a peace agreement, which President Trump is trying to arrange, will not be expedited, Vance assessed, "I believe Russia has made significant concessions to President Trump. They have begun to show flexibility on some of their core demands."

However, he noted, "Negotiations have their 'ups and downs.' We feel we have made great progress with Russia, but sometimes, as President Trump has said, we are very frustrated with Russia. This is not something that will happen overnight, and we will continue to make progress."

Yonhap News Agency