Mike Pence

I don't know what the holdup is.

I think it's time that we put even more pressure on.

The way to peace is not through boards.

The way to peace is through strength.

and showing Vladimir Putin that the free world will not stand idly by while he wages this unprovoked invasion against Ukraine.

Vladimir Putin doesn't want peace.

So is this a waste of time?

He wants Ukraine.

And I have met Vladimir Putin.

I've stood closer than I am to you.

I've told him things he didn't want to hear.

And I have never had any illusions.

about the man.

Vladimir Putin has made it clear for now more than a quarter century that his ambition in life is to reassert that old Soviet sphere of influence.

And Ukraine is a part of that.

Crimea in Ukraine was a part of that.

But his ambitions don't stop there.

And I hold the view that now is not the time for more talk, more summits, more conversation.

It's time for action.

And having nations free up those frozen Russian assets, as European powers are discussing, make them available to Ukraine, but also, again, passing those strong secondary sanctions.