Vice President JD Vance said Russian strongman Vladimir Putin has made several concessions in his discussions with President Trump over the war in Ukraine — including vowing to respect the territorial integrity of Ukraine after the fighting ends.
“They’ve recognized that they’re not going to be able to install a puppet regime in Kyiv, and importantly, they’ve acknowledged that there is going to be some security guarantee to the territorial integrity of Ukraine,” Vance told NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday.
On the possibility of Ukraine having to give land to a country that forcibly seized it, Vance didn’t appear to agree that doing so may send a message to other rival countries like China about taking Taiwan, or would reward Russia for its invasion.
“This is how wars ultimately get settled. If you go back to World War II, if you go back to World War I, if you go back to every major conflict in human history, they all end with some kind of negotiation,” the VP said, noting it will be Ukraine that will ultimately decide which land it may give up.
Germany and Japan surrendered unconditionally to end the Second World War, and land settlement decisions happened afterwards.
However, also on Sunday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov — in an earlier “Meet the Press” interview — also appeared to put more conditions on any direct talks between Putin and Zelensky, and said the Putin believe the Ukrainian president is “illegitimate” as leader of the nation.
While Russia has begun speaking about security guarantees for Ukraine, Moscow has criticized European leaders meeting with Trump to discuss possible plans — instead claiming Russia has to have veto power over promises to keep Ukraine safe from future Russian attacks.
The White House has claimed Trump made inroads with Russia during his meeting with dictator Vladimir Putin in Anchorage, Alaska, but the Kremlin has now insisted that a Putin-Zelensky summit will come only after both sides come to a peace deal beforehand.
Lavrov said that a “presidential agenda” would have to be negotiated before a bilateral summit takes place, despite Trump saying he’s working with both sides to make the meeting happen soon.
The agenda, according to Lavrov, includes promises for Ukraine to never join NATO and Zelensky cancelling legislation banning Russian from being an official language.
Trump said Friday he was continuing to work with Russia and Ukraine on getting the meeting to happen — but also expressed frustration after Russian missiles struck an American company in Ukraine, threatening more sanctions on Moscow.
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