His comments come shortly after the U.S. and Ukraine signed a minerals deal, an agreement that Vance said showed the White House is making progress.

The discussions have taken place in an ornate Kremlin hall, on the polished marble of St. Peter’s Basilica and in a famously contentious session in the Oval Office of the White House. What’s emerged so far from the Washington-led effort to end the war in Ukraine suggests a deal that seems likely to be favorable to Russia: