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US vice president, top diplomat deny reports of split over Ukraine

JD Vance said that the media is lying in order to derail the US president's agenda

WASHINGTON, November 26. /TASS/. US Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio have denied media reports about a split inside the White House administration over ways to resolve the conflict in Ukraine.

"This story is just the latest example of a long-running series of 100% fake news reports claiming a rift inside the Trump administration over how to end the war in Ukraine. These people don’t just get things wrong, they literally make things up," Rubio wrote on the X social media platform.

Vance responded to the post, saying: "The media is lying in order to derail the president's agenda. It's really that simple."

Earlier, NBC News alleged that there was "a long-running rift inside the Trump administration" over how to settle the conflict, which "features a looming potential political rivalry" between Vance and Rubio, potential presidential hopefuls for the 2028 election. According to NBC News, a number of officials, including Vance and US Special Presidential Envoy Steve Witkoff, view "Ukraine as the primary obstacle to peace and favors using US leverage to force Kiev to make major compromises," while the other camp, represented by Rubio, blames Russia for starting the conflict and calls for increasing the pressure of sanctions and other measures against Moscow.

The US and Ukraine held consultations on Washington’s peace plan in Geneva on November 23. Rubio described the meeting as "the most productive" so far since the beginning of the conflict. Politico reported later, citing a source, that talks had taken place in a tense atmosphere, with Ukraine insisting on changes to the plan. According to RBC-Ukraine, the United States and Ukraine reached consensus on the majority of Washington's proposals but a number of provisions were reserved for discussions at a meeting between US President Donald Trump and Vladimir Zelensky; no date for it has been set yet. Trump stated on Tuesday that the peace plan had been reduced from 28 points to 22.

Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on November 25 that Moscow believed the US plan to resolve the Ukraine conflict was substantive and could serve as a basis for talks.

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