Vice President JD Vance and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met on Friday on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference to discuss how to bring an end to the Russia-Ukraine war.
“We had a number of fruitful conversations, a number of things for us to follow up and work on,” Vance said. “And fundamentally, the goal is, as President Trump outlined it, we want the war to come to a close.”
“We want the killing to stop, but we want to achieve a durable, lasting peace, not the kind of peace that’s going to have Eastern Europe in conflict just a couple years down the road,” the vice president said.
Zelenskyy thanked the U.S. and President Donald Trump for supporting Ukraine. He said they will work together on a plan to “stop” Russian President Vladimir Putin but emphasized Ukraine will need certain security guarantees as they move forward.
“We have good conversation today,” Zelenskyy said. “Our first meeting, not last, sure and really, what we need to speak for, to work for and to prepare the plan how to stop Putin and finish the war. We want, really, we want peace very much, but we need real security guarantees, and we will continue our meetings and our work.”
The meeting came on the heels of Trump’s 90-minute call with Putin on Wednesday, his first major diplomatic foray into the conflict he vowed on the campaign trail to bring to an end as soon as he entered office.
Trump also spoke with Zelenskyy that day, but his decision to speak with Putin first prompted criticism from the Ukrainian leader and other U.S. allies. Trump defended the decision on Thursday, saying he needed to know if Russia wanted to “make a deal.”
The administration has offered mixed messages on its position toward negotiations.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Wednesday ruled out NATO membership for Ukraine and called full territorial liberation of Ukraine’s pre-war borders an “unrealistic” goal. Hegseth also said there would be no U.S. troops deployed to Ukraine.
Vance, however, told the Wall Street Journal the option of military action is on the table if Russia doesn’t negotiate in “good faith.”
“There are economic tools of leverage, there are of course military tools of leverage” the U.S. could use against Putin, Vance said in an interview with the newspaper.
When Trump was asked on Thursday what Russia should have to give up during negotiations, he sidestepped.
“As far as the negotiation, it’s too early to say what is going to happen,” Trump said. “Maybe Russia will give up a lot. Maybe they won’t.”
Zelenskyy said on Friday he is counting on Trump and the U.S. for support in the negotiations and that he won’t meet with Putin until “we have a joint plan with Trump and the EU.”
When asked whether negotiations will move forward even if Ukraine does not want to come to the table with Putin, Vance sidestepped.
“It’s important for us to get together and start to have the conversations that are going to be necessary to bring this thing to a close,” Vance said. “That’s all I’m going to say for now, because I want to preserve the optionality here for the negotiators and our respective teams to bring this thing to a responsible close.”
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