US will ‘walk away’ unless Russia and Ukraine agree on deal, Vice-President Vance warns

US Vice-President JD Vance said his country would "walk away" unless Ukraine and Russia agree on a deal, echoing recent comments from US officials.

His warning came after London talks between officials from the UK, France, Germany, Ukraine and the US aimed at securing a ceasefire were downgraded after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and special envoy Steve Witkoff pulled out.

The US is focused on talks this week in Moscow, where Witkoff will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin for the fourth time, as the pace of diplomacy to end the war quickens.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky, meanwhile, said he insisted on "an immediate, full, and unconditional ceasefire".

"Stopping the killing is task number one," Zelensky said on social media on Wednesday.

His remarks come as Vance told reporters during a visit to India that the US had issued a "very explicit proposal" to both the Russians and Ukrainians.

"It's time for them to either say yes or for the US to walk away from this process," he added. "We've engaged in an extraordinary amount of diplomacy, of on the ground work."

Trump's Ukraine envoy, Gen Keith Kellogg, is attending the talks in London instead of Witkoff and Rubio, who referred to Wednesday's talks as "technical meetings".

UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy is hosting a bilateral meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart also on Wednesday.

There is growing speculation that Russia might be willing to halt its invasion along current front lines in return for significant concessions.

However, there is little clarity about where the latest talks are heading or whether they will succeed.

Vance on Wednesday said: "It's now time, I think, to take, if not the final step, one of the final steps, which is, at a broad level, the party saying we're going to stop the killing, we're going to freeze the territorial lines at some level close to where they are today."

"Now, of course, that means the Ukrainians and the Russians are both going to have to give up some of the territory they currently own," he added.

Zelensky has ruled out recognising occupied Crimea as Russian territory, after reports suggested this was being considered by the US and the Kremlin.

Russia intensified its attacks on Ukraine on Wednesday, after a brief lull over Easter when it halted air strikes.

Nine people were killed and dozens more wounded in the eastern Ukrainian city of Marhanets when a Russian drone hit a bus carrying workers.

Officials in the southern region of Kherson said a key facility supplying electricity had been destroyed after coming under repeated Russian attack.

The UK Foreign Office confirmed on Wednesday that talks between foreign ministers had been postponed. "Official level talks will continue but these are closed to media," the statement said.

British diplomats said they were not entirely clear why Rubio and Witkoff had pulled out of the London talks.

The US state department blamed logistical reasons, but it was clear the decision was last-minute and left the Foreign Office wrongfooted.