Vance’s comments come ahead of a bilateral meeting between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin set to take place on Aug. 15 in Alaska. The leaders will discuss a deal to end the war that would reportedly involve Ukraine ceding new territories to Russia.
The meeting represents “a major breakthrough for American diplomacy,” Vance told Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo.
Vance indicated that a trilateral meeting involving Trump, Putin, and President Volodymyr Zelensky was on the table, saying Trump had worked “aggressively” to convince the two leaders to come together.
“We’re now trying to figure out, frankly, scheduling and things like that around when these three leaders can sit down and discuss an end to this conflict,” he added.
Vance did not say whether this trilateral summit would occur at the Aug. 15 meeting in Alaska, and stated he did not think it would be “that productive” for Putin and Zelensky to meet with one another before meeting with Trump.
A White House official has told CNN that Zelensky’s participation in the upcoming Alaska meeting remains a possibility.
The aim of the leader-level meetings is to find a workable peace agreement, Vance said, though he did not provide details as to what such an agreement might entail. The plan will likely not be popular with either Russia or Ukraine, he said.
“We’re gonna try to find some kind of negotiated settlement that the Ukrainians and Russians can live with, where they can live in relative peace, where the killing stops,” Vance added.
“It’s not gonna make anybody super happy. Both the Russians and the Ukrainians probably at the end of the day are gonna be unhappy with it. But I don’t think you can actually sit down and have this negotiation absent the leadership of Donald J. Trump.”
Zelensky has firmly rejected the idea of ceding any Ukrainian territory to end Russia’s war, stating that “Ukrainians will not gift their land to the occupier.” He warned that peace deal favoring Moscow would give Russia a chance to regroup and launch a new invasion.
