Vice President JD Vance said Sunday that the US is keen to get Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky together with Russia’s Vladimir Putin for crucial peace talks — but only under President Trump’s terms.
Vance confirmed that the US is negotiating to get the leaders together for the first time in 3 1/2 years of war, while warning that such plans could be ruined if Zelensky tries to rush ahead before Trump decides the timing is right.
“I actually don’t think it would be that productive,” Vance told Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures.”
“I think, fundamentally, the president of the United States has to be the one to kind of bring these two together.”
“Fundamentally, this is something where the president needs to force President Putin and President Zelensky to really sit down to figure out their differences.”
Vance did not detail when a meeting with the three world leaders could take place, including whether it is likely on Friday, when Trump is scheduled for a historic one-on-one with Putin in Alaska.
Zelensky’s presence, if forced, could railroad such peace talks, Vance suggested.
“One of the most important logjams is that Vladimir Putin said that he would never sit down with Zelensky,” Vance said. “We’re at a point now where we’re trying to figure out, frankly, scheduling and things like that around when these three leaders could sit down and discuss an end to this conflict.”
The White House has reportedly toyed with the idea of having Zelensky attend the meeting with Putin. But Trump has made it clear publicly that he is willing to meet Putin without Zelensky.
“We, of course, condemn the invasion that happened. We don’t like that this is where things are, but you have got to make peace here,” Vance added. “And the only way to make peace is to sit down and talk.”
“You can’t finger-point. You can’t wag your finger at somebody and say, ‘You’re wrong. We’re right.’ The way to peace is to have a decisive leader sit down and force people to come together.”
Zelensky has been adamant that any peace deal inked without Ukraine “won’t work” and has seemingly pumped the brakes on the notion that Kyiv will make territorial concessions to Russia.
“We’re, of course, going to talk to the Ukrainians. I actually spoke with the Ukrainians this morning. [Secretary of State] Marco [Rubio] has been talking to them quite a bit,” Vance said.
The vice president has been meeting with European and Ukrainian officials in the UK over the weekend amid preparations for the high-stakes summit in Alaska on Friday.
Trump has made ending the bloody war in Ukraine a top foreign policy priority of his second term in office.
The president has also departed from his predecessor, former President Joe Biden, by attempting to position himself as a mediator between warring Russia in Ukraine.
“We have a lot of economic points of leverage. And we’re willing to use those to bring about peace. And that was a big thing that happened,” Vance explained, appearing to credit Trump’s ultimatum against Russia for the breakthrough.
“Americans, I think, are sick of continuing to send their money, their tax dollars to this particular conflict. But if the Europeans want to step up and actually buy the weapons from American producers, we’re OK with that.”
