US vice-president JD Vance says Europe must spend more on Ukraine as he warned that America is “done with the funding of the war”. He also vowed that Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky will be forced to meet by Donald Trump.
Mr Vance, in a wide-ranging interview on Fox News, went on to dismiss European leaders’ calls to allow the Ukrainian president to attend the upcoming summit between the US and Russian leaders, insisting that it would not be “productive” at this point.
On Saturday, European leaders including Sir Keir Starmer jointly welcomed the meeting, which is planned for Friday in Alaska. However, they warned that any talks should see Ukraine represented and not permit any land to be ceded to Russia.
Their statement came after Mr Trump admitted the deal may involve “some swapping of territories” – a suggestion Mr Zelensky strongly rejected.
Mr Vance told Fox News that Mr Trump “has to be the one to bring these two together”, before criticising Europe for not “stepping up”.
He said: “What we said to the Europeans is simply: this is in your neck of the woods, this is in your back door. You guys have gotta step up and take a bigger role in this thing. And if you care so much about this conflict, you should be willing to play a more direct and substantial way in funding this war yourself.
“I think the president, and I certainly think that America, we’re done with the funding of the Ukraine war business. We wanna bring about a peaceful settlement of this thing, we wanna stop the killing.”
Mr Vance met with top European and Ukrainian officials at the British foreign secretary’s weekend residence on Saturday to discuss how to end the war.
European Commission president Kaja Kallas confirmed that European foreign ministers are scrambling to convene for an emergency meeting on Monday ahead of Friday’s summit.
As European nations rally behind Ukraine, Mr Zelensky thanked his allies, writing in a post on X on Sunday: “The end of the war must be fair, and I am grateful to everyone who stands with Ukraine and our people.”
A White House official, who spoke on condition of anonymity as they aren’t allowed to speak publicly, told the Associated Press that Mr Trump remained open to a trilateral summit with both the Russian and Ukrainian leaders, but for now, he will have a bilateral meeting requested by Mr Putin.
The summit may prove pivotal in the war that began in February 2022, although there is no guarantee it will stop the fighting, since Moscow and Kyiv remain far apart on their conditions for peace.
Saturday’s statement, signed by the president of the European Union and leaders of France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Finland and the UK, stressed the need for a “just and lasting peace” for Kyiv, including “robust and credible” security guarantees. “The path to peace in Ukraine cannot be decided without Ukraine,” it added.
US senator Lindsey Graham told NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday that a good deal would mean preventing an emboldened Russia, and aggressors elsewhere, from trying to once again redraw borders by force.
