Washington, Aug 10 (IANS) Ahead of the much-anticipated summit meeting between the US and Russian Presidents in Alaska, US Vice President J.D. Vance said that negotiations to end the Ukraine conflict “should be based on the existing battle lines”, though admitting it will not make “anybody super happy”.
Vance, speaking to Fox News, described this strategy as “a realistic, if imperfect, foundation” for a negotiated peace between Russia and Ukraine, RT reported.
He also credited President Donald Trump with securing a breakthrough that could bring Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky to the table.
“If you take where the current line of contact between Russia and Ukraine is, we’re going to try to find some negotiated settlement that the Ukrainians and the Russians can live with… where the killing stops,”| Vance told Fox News, admitting that “it’s not going to make anybody super happy”.
Trump had said earlier that the ideas under discussion include “some swapping of territories to the betterment of both” sides, and Zelensky would need to find a way to approve such a deal under Ukrainian law.
Zelensky has rejected any such agreement, claiming that “nobody can or will” make concessions on the issue. “The Ukrainians will not give their land to the occupiers,” he proclaimed.
Vance also claimed President Trump had persuaded his Russian counterpart to reverse course on his refusal to meet Zelensky, and that scheduling talks between the three leaders was now under discussion.
Asked if Putin and Zelensky should meet before involving Trump, he contended that he doesn’t think “it would be that productive”, and it must be Trump who is the one to “bring these two together” for meaningful progress.
In the interview published after he met several European and Ukrainian officials in London, including UK Foreign Minister David Lammy, ahead of the summit meeting between Presidents Putin and Trump, the US Vice President also said the US is not going to fund Ukraine anymore.
Ukraine’s European backers can buy the weapons from American producers if they want to continue supporting Kiev, and the US will be “okay with that”, Vance added.
He suggested that Kiev’s European backers should play a bigger role in providing funding if they “care so much about this conflict.”
“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 buy the weapons from American producers, we’re okay with that. But we’re not going to fund it ourselves anymore,” he said.
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