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.
In a wide-ranging interview, he 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, as a move towards peace. 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 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.
A Trump ally and Russia hawk, Mr Graham nevertheless said that “you can’t end a war without talking”. He added: “I do hope that Zelenskyy can be part of the process. I have every confidence in the world that [President Trump] is going to go to meet Putin from a position of strength, that he’s going to look out for Europe and Ukrainian needs to end this war honourably.”
A month-long US-led push to achieve a truce in Ukraine has so far proved fruitless, with Kyiv agreeing in principle while the Kremlin has held out for terms more to its liking.
Mr Zelensky said on Saturday that Ukraine “will not give Russia any awards for what it has done” and that “Ukrainians will not give their land to the occupier”.
Andriy Yermak, a top aide to Mr Zelensky, noted on Sunday that Kyiv will strive to boost its position ahead of the planned Trump-Putin meeting. “Ahead lies an important week of diplomacy,” he said.
German chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Sunday that European leaders are “intensively preparing” ahead of the Alaska summit, while they “hope and expect” that Mr Zelensky will be invited.
Nato’s secretary general Mark Rutte on Sunday praised Washington for taking steps such as allowing more military equipment to flow to Ukraine and imposing secondary sanctions on India for purchasing Russian oil, saying Trump “clearly is putting pressure on Putin”.
In the interview with ABC’s This Week, Mr Rutte added: “Next Friday will be important because it will be about testing Putin – how serious he is – on bringing this terrible war to an end.”
Meanwhile, Ukraine and Russia continued to trade blows on the battlefield on Sunday.
Three swimmers were killed by unexploded objects in Ukraine’s southern Odesa region at two beaches where swimming has been banned, regional officials said.
And Ukraine’s military said on Sunday that it had struck an oil refinery in Russia’s Saratov region in an overnight drone attack.
