Washington, August 10 – U.S. Vice President JD Vance has said that a direct meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin before Putin’s scheduled talks with U.S. President Donald Trump would be “unproductive.” Speaking to Fox News, Vance stressed that “it’s essential that the U.S. president be the one to bring them together.”
According to Vance, Trump must get Putin and Zelensky to sit down, address their differences, and pursue a peaceful resolution, which he described as the only path to ending the conflict. He added that both he and Secretary of State Marco Rubio have recently engaged in discussions with Ukrainian officials and intend to keep that channel open.
Putin and Trump are set to meet in Alaska on August 15. While The New York Post reported that the meeting was contingent on a prior Putin–Zelensky encounter, Trump has dismissed that condition. Still, Zelensky could join the Alaska meeting. U.S. Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker has said such a format is possible but depends on Trump’s decision. The White House also signaled that the Republican president is open to trilateral talks, though for now, only a Putin–Trump meeting is planned.
Vance also reiterated Trump’s stance that the United States should end direct funding for the war in Ukraine. “If Europeans want to step up and buy weapons from American manufacturers, we have no problem with that. But we won’t be the ones funding it anymore,” he told Fox News, adding that U.S. taxpayers are tired of financing the war effort.
Earlier this month, a U.S. Senate committee approved about $1 billion in aid to Ukraine, despite the fact that Trump had not included it in his budget request. The measure won support from both Democrats and Republicans, according to Reuters.
Former U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton said Trump is looking for a way to disengage from the Ukraine conflict and may be ready to “wash his hands” of the matter if Russia’s reported offer of a 50-day ceasefire fails to materialize. He suggested the president is seeking both a diplomatic and a military exit strategy, despite agreeing to provide Ukraine with new weapons.
Moscow, for its part, continues to condemn Western military assistance to Kyiv, insisting it will only prolong the war and will not prevent Russia from achieving its objectives.
