White House officials have suggested they are open to a trilateral meeting, but Vance did not suggest a time or date when he spoke to Fox News’s “Sunday Morning Futures.” He did say, however, that the White House is “trying to figure out, frankly, scheduling and things like that, around when these three leaders could sit down and discuss an end to this conflict.”
Trump and Putin are planning a meeting Friday in Alaska, as the White House seeks a deal to end the war in Ukraine that began with Russia’s invasion more than three years ago.
In the meantime, European leaders are seeking to have a call with Trump to share their views — before he meets with Putin, according to two officials familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive diplomacy issues.
On the possibility for a trilateral meeting, Vance said on “Sunday Morning Futures” that he did not think it would be “productive” for Putin to meet with Zelensky before meeting with Trump.
“Fundamentally, this is something where the president needs to force President Putin and President Zelensky, really, to sit down to figure out their differences,” Vance said. “The way to peace is to have a decisive leader, sit down and force people to come together.”
Ukrainian and European officials met with Vance on Saturday in the United Kingdom to coordinate a response to Russia’s proposal for ending the war. Zelensky, who didn’t attend in person, described the conversations as “constructive” in a statement. He also spoke with French President Emmanuel Macron and U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer. After the national security meeting with Vance, European leaders released a statement backing Ukraine’s demand for a ceasefire or reduction in hostilities before negotiations began and emphasized that Russia was responsible for the war.
