US Vice President JD Vance publicly attacked Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell on Tuesday after the Kentucky senator warned on X last Saturday that President Trump should "find new advisors" if they are "more concerned with appeasing Putin than securing real peace."
The clash exposes a widening rift within the Republican establishment at a critical moment for Kyiv. McConnell chairs the Senate Defense Appropriations Subcommittee while Armed Services Committee Chair Roger Wicker has joined his criticism—meaning the two senators who control whether any peace deal gets funded or enforced are publicly questioning the administration's approach. For Ukraine, which has already agreed to "core terms" while three dealbreakers remain unresolved, the outcome of this internal battle could determine whether Washington moderates the deal or pushes Kyiv toward further concessions.
Vance fires back as his ally takes over talks
McConnell wrote that "Putin has spent the entire year trying to play President Trump for a fool," warning that "rewarding Russian butchery would be disastrous to America's interests" and comparing capitulation to "Biden's abandonment of Afghanistan."
Vance responded to McConnell's criticism with a post on X calling it "a ridiculous attack on the president's team" and accusing the senator of being "always eager to write blank checks to Biden's foreign policy."
The vice president's influence over the peace process has grown substantially. Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, whom The Hill identified as "a Vance ally," has now "taken over as Trump's top interlocutor with Ukraine"—a shift that places the negotiations firmly within Vance's orbit rather than the State Department's.
Republicans question plan's authorship and oppose original terms
The dispute intensified after Senators Mike Rounds (R-SD) and Angus King (I-ME) said Secretary of State Marco Rubio told them the original 28-point proposal was "essentially the wish list of the Russians" rather than a US-authored document, according to PBS News. Rubio's spokesperson called their account "a blatant lie."
Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC) told CBS News that McConnell's criticism "was short of what should be said," while Senator Lindsey Graham, typically a Trump ally, wrote that "several areas" of the plan "are very problematic."
Senate Republicans "still [are] wanting to do a Russia sanctions package," a Senate GOP aide told The Hill, warning that if the revised plan "adheres to that original proposal," senators will "express some significant opposition."
Negotiations advance while key issues hang in balance
The internal Republican divide comes as Trump told reporters negotiations are progressing on "standard things" with "people starting to realize it's a good deal for both parties"—while Russia has yet to formally accept any framework.
Ukraine has agreed to "core terms" of the revised proposal, but three critical issues—territorial concessions, military size limitations, and NATO membership—remain unresolved.
