Vance says US is working to set up meeting with Trump, Putin and Zelenskyy

As President Vladimir Putin of Russia gets ready to meet with President Donald Trump on Friday in Alaska, Vice President JD Vance said Sunday that the U.S. is working to set up a meeting that also includes President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine.

Vance said on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures” that he did not think it would be a good idea for Putin and Zelenskyy to meet before Trump’s meeting with Putin on Friday. But he suggested the three leaders could meet and that the U.S. wants to schedule such a meeting.

“One of the most important logjams is that Vladimir Putin said that he would never sit down with Zelenskyy, the head of Ukraine, and the president has now got that to change,” he said.

Vance said the White House is working on “scheduling and things like that around when these three leaders could sit down and discuss an end to this conflict.”

On Sunday morning, Zelenskyy posted on social media that “Russia is doing everything to prolong hostilities, refuses to stop the killings despite announced deadlines, and is trying to bargain for better positions on the ground for future strikes. Such destructive behavior by Russia must be stopped.”

He added, “Ukraine is ready to work as productively as possible with all partners for the sake of real peace. Matters concerning Ukraine must be decided with Ukraine’s participation.”

Trump plans to meet with Putin in Alaska without the Ukrainians there, barring any last-minute invitation. Trump has suggested “land swaps” could be part of a peace deal between the two countries, but Ukraine has firmly rejected giving over Ukrainian land to the Russian invaders without any security guarantees or arms for Ukraine.

Appearing on ABC, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte portrayed the meeting Friday as a pivotal test to see whether Putin is sincere about peace.

Rutte said Trump “clearly is putting pressure on Putin. Next Friday will be important, because it will be about testing Putin, how serious he is on bringing this terrible war to an end.”

Chancellor Friedrich Merz of Germany told German broadcaster ARD that he would call Trump on Sunday to discuss the war in Ukraine.

Merz said it was unacceptable that any talks about a resolution to the fighting, including possible territorial concessions, be held “over the heads of the Europeans, over the heads of the Ukrainians.”

Matthew Whitaker, U.S. ambassador to NATO, said on CNN he believed it’s possible Zelenskyy could still attend Friday’s meeting in Alaska.

“Obviously, the decision is going to be made by President Trump,” he said. “He agreed to meet with President Putin in Alaska on Friday, and if he thinks that that is the best scenario to invite Zelenskyy, then he’ll do that.

“There’s time to make that decision,” Whitaker said. “No decision’s been made.”

Vance also declared Sunday that the United States was “done” with funding Ukraine’s defense against the Russian invasion.

Long a skeptic of funding weaponry for Ukraine, Vance said the Trump administration no longer wished to fund the defense but was fine with Ukraine’s buying American weapons from U.S. companies.

“America, we’re done with the funding of the Ukraine war business,” Vance said. “We want to bring about a peaceful settlement to this thing. We want to stop the killing. But Americans, I think, are sick of continuing to send their money, their tax dollars, to this particular conflict.”

He continued: “But if the Europeans want to step up and actually buy the weapons from American producers, we’re OK with that. But we’re not going to fund it ourselves anymore.”

In July, the Trump administration and NATO reached a deal to supply patriot air defense systems, missiles and ammunition, among other American-made weapons to Ukraine. Under the deal, NATO allies would buy the weapons to help Ukraine defend itself from Russian attacks.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

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