Positions of Moscow, Kiev on conflict settlement getting closer together - Vance

WASHINGTON. April 8 (Interfax) - Much progress has been made in the Ukrainian settlement process, and the Moscow and Kiev's positions on the terms of a settlement have gotten closer together, U.S. Vice President JD Vance said on Wednesday.

"We have made significant progress. If you go back to where we were in the beginning, where we couldn't even get the Russians or the Ukrainians to put on paper what is it that you want in order to settle the conflict. We've now gotten that. And we've got pieces of paper from the Ukrainians and pieces of paper from the Russians. We've got them to state their positions. And over time their positions have gotten closer and closer together," Vance said at an event in Hungary.

He said the sides were still not entirely aligned but he was optimistic about continuing negotiations. "We are talking about haggling at this point over a few square kilometers of territory in one direction or another," Vance said.

The United States is disappointed in the European political leadership, which does not seem to be interested in settling this conflict, he said, adding that he appreciated the assistance of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, while certain European leaders promoted the settlement from "behind the scenes."

Some U.S. politicians believed that ending the Ukrainian conflict would be the easiest task, but the U.S. administration has realized that this is one of the most difficult, Vance said.